Double Take
by The Committee
Summary: AU: Kikyo thought life was hard enough with high school, three sworn enemies, and a psychotic stalker to worry about. Then her long-lost twin Kagome shows up on her doorstep with problems of her own...
1. Stalkers and Housebreakers

**Double Take** by The Committee

Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

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Chapter One—Stalkers and Housebreakers

**………**

_RING! RING!_

She picked up the phone with a growing sense of dread, afraid of what she would hear on the other end. "Hello?" she asked tentatively.

No response.

"Who is this? Why do you keep calling?"

There was a distinct click as the person on the other end of the line hung up. For the fifth time that afternoon.

Kikyo slammed the receiver back down on its cradle and pushed a lock of ebony hair out of her face, tucking it behind one ear. There was no point in tracing it—she'd already tried and the number was blocked. She had half a mind to phone the police and report the strange calls, but she knew her father would disapprove. He didn't like the police to be involved.

Ever.

A side effect of being an overly paranoid multimillionaire, she decided. Everyone, including the authorities, was out to get a piece of his pie. It wasn't true, of course, but the old man would never admit it. Ten years imprisoned in a wheelchair had done nothing for his personal sanity. He felt weak, vulnerable. The two of them had moved here soon after the accident, hoping to forget the past.

"Accident," Kikyo snorted to herself derisively. There was nothing accidental about the bullet that had pierced her father's spinal chord and had landed him a life-time role as a paraplegic. That the bullet had been meant for her mother was an entirely different story.

Still, they always referred to it as an accident, and the world at large had been told that Ryutaro Higurashi had been thrown from the saddle when his horse had balked at jumping a hedge. _That_ was how millionaires were supposed to land themselves in wheelchairs, not by jumping in the way of a bullet meant for a former lover and current wife. What had possessed him to sacrifice himself for a woman he had stopped loving long ago, Kikyo would never understand.

The phone rang again, shattering the quiet of the mansion with its peal. She wasn't going to answer it this time. And her father had better look into getting Caller ID, she added mentally. She waited as the fourth ring sounded and the machine picked up.

_"You've reached Kikyo Higurashi,"_ she listened to her own voice say sweetly, _"I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave your name and number after the tone." _The machine beeped a flat A and she listened apprehensively, waiting to hear if the caller would leave a message. The only sound that came was a heavy sigh. A tired sigh. Then the phone hung up.

Kikyo stood puzzled for a moment, wondering if that could possibly have been the same person that had been calling all afternoon. Curiosity got the best of her and she strode over to the phone, picking it up and punching in the callback code.

_"The number you are trying to reach is out of this area,"_ a mechanical operator intoned. Long distance? She inwardly cursed that she hadn't picked up this time. Who would be calling her private line long distance? Maybe they would call back. She'd tell one of the maids to answer that line for the rest of the day, not wanting to risk another run-in with the silent prankster.

The long distance caller didn't call back, though the local idiot had another few go's until he (she presumed it was a he) finally figured out that the maid was now answering the phone. Kikyo herself holed up in the library with a fleecy blanket and a copy of _Wuthering Heights_ that she was supposed to be reading for her English class. After a few chapters, she decided she preferred Charlotte to Emily, and went in search of her copy of _Jane Eyre_. Outside it started to rain as the sky darkened into a sullen gray night.

**………**

A sinister figure sidled up to the pale young woman at the computer, her nearly white skin bleached colorless by the light of the monitor, the only light source in the room.

"What's the word?" he inquired in a low voice, watching with disinterest as her fingers flew over the keyboard.

"They missed her," the woman replied tonelessly, never missing so much as a stroke, her eyes never straying to the man at her shoulder. "The apartment was empty, with only signs of a hurried departure. I'm checking flight itineraries right now for several aliases."

A vehement curse escaped his lips, dripping with venom. "Notify me at once when you find anything," he commanded as he turned on his heel and strode from the dark room. "This has taken far too long as it is."

The young woman paused momentarily to shift a lock of snow-white hair behind one ear before resuming her fluid typing. It was going to be a long day.

**………**

The morning sky glowed a beautiful topaz blue, all signs of the previous night's storms having been swept off into the horizons like a pile of dust being hidden under the rug. The birds were singing merrily, an early spring breeze was blowing…

And Kikyo was late for school again.

Cursing under her breath, she skidded out of the bathroom connected to her bedroom, dripping wet and having only a towel to cover herself with. She had fallen asleep in the library, dreaming of Jane and Mr. Rochester, only to be rudely awakened at 7:30AM by a maid who was stupidly wondering if she had the day off from school.

"Whoever heard of a day off in the middle of March?" Kikyo growled under her breath as she struggled into her school uniform, conveniently forgetting that wonderful March phenomenon known as Spring Break. That wasn't until next week anyway—the maid should have known as much.

She dashed downstairs in her socks, nearly slipping and breaking her neck in the process. Grabbing a piece of toast from the immaculately-set breakfast table, she clutched it in between her teeth while trying to simultaneously hop into her shoes and put on her jacket. Her wet hair had been carelessly pulled back into a ponytail, but it was dripping down the back of her uniform, and she was freezing.

Snatching up her car keys, she vaulted out the front door and across the lawn to the garage. A minute later, her junky little Geo Prism went tearing down the driveway and out into the street. Kikyo loved her car.

The tiny white hatchback zipped in and out of traffic, heading toward the private school like a bat out of hell. It was the only thing she had ever bought with her own hard-earned money. Silly, some people thought, when she could have easily asked her father for a Mercedes or a Jag and gotten it without him so much as batting an eyelash. But the Prism—in all its cheap, tin-can glory—was hers. No one had loaned her a cent to buy it. It was sort of a matter of pride more than anything else. She had worked hard all last summer, saved her money, and this was her reward. And it didn't hurt that the thing was such a piece of junk that she could treat it like crap, even total it, and not have any real regrets.

At the moment, she took advantage of the space between two cars who were pulling a Nebraska roadblock, zipping her tiny vehicle illegally through amid honks and swerves from the two startled drivers. What were they so worked up about? She had a good inch to spare on either side of her. She hadn't even scratched their paint jobs.

Without so much as a backward glance, she continued on her way, tearing into the school parking lot and pulling into the first empty space she came to. She still had five minutes to spare before class started, in which she had to dash to her locker and collect all of her books.

Any aggression Kikyo had within her was taken out on the road. Behind the wheel she was bold, even something of a menace, but once on her own, she became quiet and timid. Even as she ran to her locker, she kept her eyes downward, not wanting to meet the eyes of any passing students. She accidentally clipped someone's side and muttered an apology as she hurried on.

"Watch where you're going, wench!" a voice she clearly recognized yelled after her, and indignation welled up within her chest.

Inuyasha. If she weren't running late, she might have given that jerk a piece of her mind. As it was, she didn't even have time to cast him her trademark smouldering glare. She reached her locker, rolled through the combination in record time and jerked it open, piling in the books she wouldn't need for the first half of the day. She almost failed to see the note flutter to the ground.

Frozen in the act of zipping up her backpack, she watched it settle on the floor. The next instant she snatched up the scrap of paper and slammed her locker door shut, her eyes fixed on the scrawl of words.

_Don't like phone games, do we?_

Kikyo whirled around, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever had put the note in her locker. Surely they would have hung around to see her reaction, right? But the bell had already rung and the sweep music was blaring across the loudspeakers. She had less than two minutes to get to class, or she would spend the next hour in study hall.

As the second bell rang, she barreled through the door and slid into her desk chair, dropping her bag on the floor and looking attentively up at the teacher, Mr. Seikai.

"Nicely done, Miss Higurashi," he complemented with raised brows and a nod. She blushed slightly, feeling a little self-conscious as the entire room focused on her for a moment. The teacher drew their attention back to himself by demanding their homework from the night before.

She went through class that morning warily watching out of the corners of her eyes for anyone suspicious. Someone was calling her house, and now that same someone had put a note in her locker. Were they trying to scare her? Or was it just a sick joke? She could think of a handful of people that would want to see her humiliated. Inuyasha Taisho was at the top of that list, along with his two closest friends, Miroku Houshi and Sango Taijiya. Sure, they all hated her, and vice versa, but would they really stoop to using such juvenile scare tactics?

And yet, juvenile as they were, weren't the scare tactics working? Already she was looking over her shoulder everywhere she went. She actually jumped, startled, when innocuous little Hojo said hello to her as they passed each other in the hallway between classes. If she wasn't careful, she would become as paranoid as her father and end up locked in a little room with a pistol and a maniacal gleam in her eyes.

Okay, so he hadn't come to that yet, but he wasn't far.

Totally off the subject, she inwardly chided herself. She needed to figure out who was trying to harass her. Or maybe the note was just a one-time deal.

She went to her locker before lunch to trade out her morning books for her afternoon ones, and her heart sank as her eyes caught sight of another scrap of paper lying on the metal floor of the compartment.

_You belong to me,_ it read in the same scrawled writing. Whoever had done it was trying to cover up their handwriting, probably scribbling the note with their non-dominant hand. She crumpled it up, feeling suddenly angry. This jerk had some nerve.

Kikyo jumped as someone wrapped arms around her from behind.

"Whoa!" said a familiar voice in her ear, and she relaxed into the embrace. "I didn't mean to startle you there."

"Sorry, Koga," she replied quietly. "I guess I'm a little on edge today."

"Well, are you just going to stand by your locker for the next hour, or are you gonna come get something to eat?" he responded, releasing her and coming around to lean against the wall so she could see him quirk an eyebrow.

She looked into his handsome face, his blue eyes and long black hair that he kept in a ponytail, and she smiled softly for the first time that morning. "Yeah, I'm coming," she said shutting the metal door and shouldering her backpack as she fell in step beside him. At least with him she could feel safe. No sleaze-ball would harass her while her almost-boyfriend was around, right?

Unless Koga _was_ the sleaze-ball, said the rational voice in the back of her mind, causing her to stop suddenly in the middle of the hallway and stare at his still-advancing form. He couldn't be, could he? she found herself asking uncertainly. He was a little possessive at times, even though they weren't officially dating, but there was no way that he would try terror tactics, right?

At some point he realized she wasn't beside him any longer, and he turned to give her a quizzical glance. "Are you okay?" he asked, adorable in his confusion.

Her doubts dissolved in an instant. No one that cute could be a psycho. "I'm fine," she smiled, and received a dazzling smile in return. "I just keep zoning out. One of those days, you know?"

"We all have them," he nodded. Like an old-fashioned gentleman, he offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

"We shall," she answered, latching on and progressing toward the cafeteria.

If her morning had been bumpy, her afternoon was no better. She had her two worst subjects: French and PE. It wasn't that she was stupid or anything, because she got good grades in all her other classes, but something about the French language just didn't take in her brain. This was her third year studying the stupid subject, and she still was having trouble with the basics, much to her teacher's irritation and her own chagrin. And as far as PE went—well, she had never been an aerobics sort of girl. She was lucky that she had the type of metabolism that kept her slender without exhaustive exercise, because she had never had the physical endurance to run or jump around or whatever other crazy thing the sadist PE teachers made them go through. She liked activities that didn't require much movement, like archery or yoga.

"Yoga's for sissies," their butch instructor Ms. Urasue had snorted on the first day of class, her bulging eyes glaring at them all with a wicked glint. Kikyo had inwardly groaned and rued putting off her required PE credit until her senior year. If she had just gotten it over with as a freshman, she could be doing something more enjoyable, like art, or a second hour of French, or perhaps even unanesthetized self-dentistry. Not that she needed a root canal, mind you, but it would have been preferable to this torture.

"Having problems, Higurashi?" Sango inquired smoothly as she passed by for a third time since they had started running laps. Sango was the athletic type—all-star volleyball and women's basketball, practically a school hero.

Kikyo's chest felt like it was going to explode, but she wasn't about to let an enemy see that. "Move it along, Taijiya," she managed to retort without panting too much.

Sango suppressed a chuckle but kept running. In all honesty she wasn't so very bad. The two of them mostly got by just ignoring one another. Kikyo couldn't even remember why they hated each other—aside from the fact that Sango was good friends with Inuyasha, and that she and Inuyasha despised one another with enough fire to keep hell going for the next few millennia.

Kikyo remembered well enough why she hated _him_. The arrogant jerk had cozied up to her a couple of years back, acting like he liked her, playing with her heart. She had fallen head over heels in love with him—until she found out from one of her friends that he was only pretending to be interested in her because of a bet between himself and his perverted friend Miroku. She had dropkicked his sorry butt the next day without even giving him a chance to explain. What was there to explain anyway? Sure, every other girl in school would have swooned if he cast his dreamy violet eyes in their direction, even if it was just because of a silly bet. Kikyo, however, had _some_ self-respect. And even if he did have such luxurious black hair and such a well chiseled body…

She ground her teeth together and started running a little harder. Okay, so he was near perfect, but she hated him all the more for it. That conceited SOB had made a fool of her, and no amount of good looks could ever make up for his rancid personality.

There was another note in her locker when she went to put her books away after school—she crumpled it up without even looking at it, tossing it into the bottom of her bag with the first two. Today was Thursday, and that meant only one more day left until Spring Break.

**………**

Friday afternoon finally rolled around, and she sped home in her Prism, relishing the idea that she had a whole week to herself. Her father had generously offered to let her run off to Mexico or Europe or something (well chaperoned, of course), but all she really wanted to do was curl up in bed with a stack of books.

There had been notes in her locker again today, but she had ignored them, just shoving them into the bottom of her bag without so much as glancing at them. She figured that would be the best way to annoy whoever was sending them. After all, someone was going to the trouble of sneaking to her locker and slipping in those pleasant little missives. What better revenge than to make their efforts futile by ignoring said notes? It sounded good in theory, at any rate.

She had just picked up a worn paperback novel when the maid came in, bearing the phone.

"Miss Kikyo? Someone to speak with you."

Kikyo took the receiver and said pleasantly, "Hello?"

Silence.

"Hello?" she repeated. Whoever had called had obviously spoken to the maid and asked for her by name. "Is someone there?"

"You don't seem so fond of my little notes," said the voice on the other end. It was deep and distorted, making Kikyo's blood run cold.

"Who is this?" she demanded, trying desperately to quell the fear that came surging up within her.

"You'll find out soon enough—maybe I'll pay you a little visit." The voice then launched into the filthy things he would do when he next saw her.

Kikyo quickly hung up on him, her heart pounding and her hands clammy with sudden sweat. Some psycho was stalking her, she realized fully for the first time. This wasn't some juvenile prank. This guy was serious! The phone rang again.

"Don't answer it, Mayu!" she instructed hastily as the maid reached out to pick it up. The girl withdrew her hand again and looked at Kikyo curiously.

"Don't answer it anymore."

Mayu obediently nodded and left the room. Kikyo wandered back to her own room to hang up the handset, just in time to hear her answering machine beep.

"Kikyo," his voice drawled onto the recorder, savoring the sounds of her name like they were a succulent treat, "you can't avoid me. I've been watching you." He rumbled out a low, evil laugh. "I can't wait to see the fear in your eyes when I—"

His voice cut out as she jerked the phone connection out of the wall. Okay, now she was officially creeped out. How long had this guy been watching her? Or was it just a bluff? Part of her stubbornly clung to the idea that this was just some idiot playing a prank and that nothing more would come of it. The other part rolled its eyes at the first part's gullibility. Then, she instinctively started looking around, wondering if there were hidden cameras in her room or something. What was she going to do?

An hour's worth of pacing later, she still hadn't come to any real conclusions. She had gone to confide in her father, but found him sleeping, and aside from not wanting to wake him, she thought the better of telling him someone was stalking her. For one thing, he was paranoid enough. For another, even if her life were in danger, he still wouldn't call the police.

The sky outside was darkening as another evening storm began, a chill wind howling as water pounded on the roof and windows.

Away at the front of the house, the doorbell pealed loudly.

Kikyo froze in mid-stride and stared in the general direction of the front door. The doorbell rang again, this time more urgently. The servants had Friday nights off.

No way in hell was she going to answer that door.

Creeping out of her room and down the hall, she listened to see if the visitor would ring again or give up. The house was deathly silent. She crawled to the landing and peered over the balustrade down into the entryway. A flash of lightning revealed an empty front porch through the window.

She slowly let out the lung full of air she had been holding.

_CRASH!_

Profanity escaped her mouth as she jumped about four feet in the air at the sound of shattered glass from inside the front drawing room. She scrambled to a nearby closet, wrenching it open and grabbing a baseball bat out, then dashed down the stairs and sidled up to the drawing room door, watching its handle warily.

It started to turn.

The door swung silently inward, and Kikyo raised her weapon high overhead, steeling herself to bring it down upon the intruder. She didn't like violence, and at the moment she was trembling so much that she doubted any blow she dealt would do any good, but she would try nonetheless. She had no other choice.

A shadowy figure started to emerge, but even as she swung the bat downward, a hand shot up and caught hold of it. The two struggled over the weapon before Kikyo was flung away across the floor. Clambering to her feet, she flipped on the overhead light to get a good look at her attacker. What she saw made her stop dead in her tracks.

It was like looking into a mirror, only the mirror image was dressed all in black and soaking wet. The bedraggled ebony hair may have been cut shorter than her own long tresses, but those dark brown eyes, the straight nose, and that cupid's-bow mouth slightly parted—that was certainly her own face looking back at her.

Kikyo's voice caught in her throat, but she finally managed to croak out a single, bewildered word.

"Kagome?"

**………**


	2. Back from the Dead

****

Double Take by The Committee

Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

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Chapter Two—Back from the Dead

****

………

The two girls stared across the distance of the entryway at one another, one still holding onto the baseball bat and the other with her back against the wall, supporting herself. She felt like she might faint otherwise.

"Kagome?" she repeated. "Is that you?"

"Unless you have another twin stashed away somewhere, I guess it must be," came the unruffled response, the soft voice tinged with sarcasm and a slightly foreign accent. She looked idly down at the bat in her hands. "Care to tell me why you're not answering your front door?"

"You broke a window?" was all Kikyo could think to say.

"Well, I tried all the doors first, but they were locked. Then I tried the doorbell, and you didn't answer. And in my own defense, I did attempt to slide open the window, but the stupid rain made it so I couldn't get a good grip on it! I thought maybe you were gone, and I didn't want to sit outside all night and freeze to death!"

"You scared the hell out of me!"

"Obviously." Kagome rolled her eyes and dropped the bat on the floor with a clatter. She disappeared back into the drawing room and reemerged with a black duffel bag slung over one shoulder.

"What're you doing here?" Kikyo started to demand but was cut short when her twin held up a silencing hand.

"Where's some place we can talk?" she asked quietly.

"My room. Come on." She led the way back up the stairs, trying to come to grips with the fact that her twin was following her. Her twin whom she hadn't seen in a decade, who had disappeared with her mother after her father's "accident." Her twin whom her father said was as good as dead, and whom she had all but forgotten about. Here. She suddenly realized that Kagome had never so much as set foot in this house.

As they entered her bedroom, Kikyo opened her mouth to repeat her question, but her sister again motioned her to be silent. _That could get real annoying, real fast,_ she thought to herself, watching curiously as the sodden Kagome unzipped her duffel and produced a small black gadget. She began silently sweeping it up and down the walls and under the furniture.

"What are you doing?" Kikyo inquired, watching her with fascination.

"Checking for electronic surveillance devices," Kagome answered solemnly, continuing in her task. She cast her sister a wry grin. "You know—bugs." She came to the mirror mounted on the wall and paused momentarily, extending her index finger to touch the glass. With a satisfied nod, she continued her sweep of the room.

"What was that?" Kikyo asked with a frown.

"Two-way mirrors are silver-foiled on the front of the glass, one-ways on the back."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that if you put your finger tip against the mirror and it touches its own image, that someone could be watching you from the other side." She spoke as if this would be a normal, every day occurrence. "If there's a space between your finger and its image, then it's just a regular mirror."

"And I thought Dad was paranoid," Kikyo said derisively. Still, that didn't stop her from crossing over to the mirror and trying out this little trick herself. She noted the small space between her finger and its reflection and felt a certain amount of relief—she had always secretly feared having hidden cameras watching her from behind mirrors.

Kagome finished the rest of her job in silence, even going through the closet before she was satisfied that no one would be listening in on their conversation. As she turned off the black device and replaced it in her bag, Kikyo inquired,

"Did you really expect to find something?"

"No, but it never hurts to check, right? Better safe than sorry."

There was an awkward silence as both girls stared at one another, Kikyo sitting on her bed and Kagome still dripping water on the carpet.

"So…" said the former, eyeing her returned sister contemplatively.

"Akemi's dead," said Kagome abruptly.

Akemi—that was their mother's name. Kikyo had few memories of her mother, but it still came as a shock. "What?" she croaked.

"She's dead," Kagome repeated emotionlessly. "She bungled up a job and got caught. And she wasn't about to surrender alive," she added with a short, bitter laugh. "It was three days ago. I tried to call you, but no one answered, and I didn't think it would be right to tell your machine."

So that explained the long distance phone call. And the heavy sigh.

"Where was she?"

"Italy. Rome. After you didn't answer, I got on the first plane out of there and made my way here. They'll probably contact our father in the next couple of days, tell him his ex-wife's finally been put out of commission…"

"…And see how much he has to offer to keep his name out of the newspapers," Kikyo finished with a dead voice. She knew what her mother was—a cat burglar, and one of the best in the world. Her father never spoke of the woman, and he had officially divorced her after the "accident," when Akemi had gone on the lam, taking Kagome with her.

"Anyway," Kagome said tentatively, eyeing her sister with an anxious frown, "I didn't have anywhere else to go. I've got to lay low for a while…"

"You mean you were helping her?!" Kikyo cried in surprise. "So you're a wanted criminal too?"

"Not in this country," Kagome protested self-consciously, excuses tumbling from her mouth like water over Niagara Falls. "Besides, I was just an accomplice, and I'm still underage, so the charges won't be nearly as severe. And robbery itself only has a statue of limitations of seven years. Plus, I'm not entirely sure they knew _I_ was Akemi's accomplice, or that she even had one. Look, I just needed a place to stay, somewhere I could disappear."

"This is the first place the authorities will look!" said Kikyo logically.

Her twin bit back the laugh on her tongue and muttered, "It's not exactly the authorities I'm worried about."

"What—were you hobnobbing with the Mafia?!"

Kagome let a light laugh escape her lips, but didn't deny the allegation.

"Kagome!"

"Look! Akemi did all the hobnobbing! I just drove the getaway car, and maybe hacked into a few security systems, and occasionally knocked out a couple of guards…"

"Fine, fine!" Kikyo lifted her hands and motioned for her sister to stop talking. "I get the idea! Just—you can't do any of that stuff here, okay?"

"You think I want to?"

"Well, you already broke into the house." Before her sister could protest in righteous indignation, she added quickly, "Although you had very good reason to do that, and we won't have any problem getting that window fixed."

The two stared awkwardly at one another for a long time, until Kikyo noticed that her sister was shivering, still soaked from the rain.

"You should probably change out of those clothes," she said gently.

"I don't have any others," Kagome replied with a small voice. "I kind of bolted in a hurry."

Kikyo immediately went to her closet and pulled out a fluffy white robe, tossing it to her sister and motioning her to her private bathroom. "A hot shower should do you some good. There are towels already in there, and I'll scrounge up a pair of pajamas for you."

Kagome smiled gratefully, folding the proffered robe over one arm. Just as she was about to close the door between them, Kikyo suddenly asked, "If you don't have any other clothes, then what's in the bag?"

"Equipment, mostly."

"Mostly?"

Her twin's eyes widened, and she smiled innocently as she shut the door. Kikyo heard the shower turn on and immediately turned her attention to the black duffel lying on the floor. Would Kagome notice if she went through it? Would she care? She glanced hesitantly at the closed bathroom door before giving in to her curiosity.

When Kagome said equipment, that's exactly what she meant. Inside of the duffel was a variety of mechanical devices: the small bug-detector (though she was certain it probably had a more technical name), along with a sleek silver laptop, a pair of headsets, two-way radios, and several other gadgets that Kikyo didn't recognize. She rifled through them idly, examining each briefly before moving on to the next item. In the bottom of the bag were two expensive-looking velvet boxes. She picked up one—a wide, flat, dark-blue box that looked like it came from Harrods or Tiffany's. Opening it back on its hinged lid she stared in awe at the contents.

The necklace lying within looked of Egyptian make.

And old.

Very old.

Kikyo studied the intricate design of gold filigree, studded with lapis lazuli, turquoise, and an orange-red stone she didn't know the name of. The piece was beautiful, amazing. And probably worth several hundred thousand dollars.

"I told the customs officer it was a cheap copy, gold plated with paste jewels," said Kagome's voice from behind her. She jumped and turned guiltily from her position on the floor, realizing that she had been so enraptured with the necklace that she had failed to hear the water shut off and the bathroom door open. "The idiot believed me," her sister added dryly as she pulled the white robe tighter around herself. Her hair was tied up in a towel and behind her, steam issued out from the warm bathroom.

"Isn't it illegal to carry stolen goods across international borders?" Kikyo inquired, surprised at her own lucidity and the fact that she didn't seem at all upset that her sister had brought this particular stolen item with her.

"Yeah," Kagome admitted, sitting down at the vanity and toweling off her wet hair. She picked up a comb and ran it through her raven tresses. "But I couldn't just leave it. The _polizia_ wouldn't have been the ones to find it anyway, especially since they don't know it's missing yet. And it's the other one that'll get me into trouble."

Kikyo's eyes strayed to the second box. This one was much smaller, and more of a cube than the first. It was also covered in soft velvet, but of a dark red color, almost black. She wondered what was inside.

"Go ahead. Open it," her twin prompted, still combing her hair.

She gingerly closed the jewelry box containing the Egyptian necklace and set it aside carefully, then picked up the second box. The lid fit tightly, so it took her a moment to pry it open, but as she hinged it back, a frown creased her brow. It looked like nothing more than a glass ball with a faint, nearly opaque pink sheen to it.

"I told the customs officer _that_ one was my mini crystal ball, and I asked him if he wanted me to tell his fortune." She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, the guy was as sharp as a circle."

"What is it?" Kikyo tried to tear her eyes away from the object, but couldn't, staring into its rosy depths almost as if she expected it to actually reveal her future to her.

Her sister crossed over to where she sat and dropped to the floor next to her, taking the box from her and overturning its contents into her own palm. "This, my dear sister," she said, holding up the bauble so that Kikyo could see her distorted reflection through it, "is the legendary Shikon no Tama."

Shikon no Tama. The rare pink diamond, a jewel with a thousand-plus-year history, that had passed through the hands of some of the most historically famous Japanese families as a princess's dowry or a spoil of war. Tradition said its owner was blessed with good fortune and long life. By carat weight alone it was worth more than a million dollars, but add in its mysterious past and…

"You lie." The words slipped out of her mouth before she had a chance to think about them. Kagome looked up at her, startled. "S-sorry," Kikyo stammered.

"It's okay." She carelessly dropped the jewel back into its box and closed the lid. "You don't have to believe me. It took Akemi years to track down, though—it was like her obsession."

"But the Shikon no Tama was stolen from the Tokyo Museum ages ago," she protested. The heist had been as legendary as the jewel itself. "You're telling me our mother was the one that took it?"

"Oh, no!" Kagome exclaimed. "She didn't take it from the museum. She took it from the people that took it from the museum. That's why it's the one that'll get me into trouble. That other one, the necklace—that she stole from the British Museum, right out of their Ancient Egyptian collection—switched it with a very clever forgery. I should find some way of getting it to Cairo, short of flying it there myself."

"Why Cairo?"

"There's an Egyptian collector there who'll buy it on the black market. The thing you have to understand about Akemi," she added wistfully, "is that she didn't do this for the money. She did it for the thrill. That and she had this thing about treasures being taken from their native lands. She said it was a crime the way the British Empire gutted out the Egyptian pyramids and shipped everything out of the country."

"Does that mean the Shikon no Tama will be going back to Tokyo?"

"Well…" Kagome hesitated.

"Kagome?" She quirked an eyebrow at her sister, waiting for an answer.

"To tell you the truth, I haven't decided for sure what to do with either piece. The smart thing would be just to turn them both over to the authorities and let them go back to where they originated. But if I do that, someone will just end up stealing them again. Believe me, after following Akemi around for ten years, I can honestly tell you nothing in this world is safe. Museums and private collections alike are littered with forgeries."

Kikyo frowned, blurting a sudden thought. "Why do you always call her Akemi?"

Her twin sighed heavily. "Because she didn't want anyone to know I was her daughter. She got me in the habit when we first left, and that's the way it's always been between her and me. It would be weird to start referring to her as 'Mom,' especially now that she's gone."

"I guess."

"So," Kagome said after a long moment of silence, "what have _you_ been up to for the last ten years?"

She spent the rest of the night filling Kagome in on what her life was like, feeling suddenly as if she had lived the most boring, mundane existence known to man. Her sister had been traveling the world and pirating from museums and private collections while she had sat here in nowheresville doing absolutely nothing. She did feel a sudden morbid sense of satisfaction while she related the recent stalking incidents though. That at least was interesting, even if it was the creepy type of interesting.

"So that explains the baseball bat," was all Kagome had to say.

Kikyo nodded. They had moved from off the floor some time ago, and she was now sprawled across her bed while Kagome was curled up in an oversized chair with a snuggly blanket and a pair of flannel pajamas. Kikyo had offered her sister one of the guest rooms to sleep in, or even her own bed, but Kagome had insisted she was fine in the chair, that she had slept in far stranger places.

"So who do you think the stalker is?" her twin asked, not bothering to suppress a wide yawn.

"I don't know," Kikyo shrugged back. "I mean, it could just be some elaborate prank, but whoever it is has a filthy mind. You should have heard some of the things he said over the phone this afternoon. And then he would have said more into the answering machine, so I unplugged it."

"I noticed the phone chord was out of the wall," Kagome murmured, her eyes drooping shut as she leaned her head against one of the chair's padded arms.

"Kagome?" Kikyo asked tentatively, feeling a sudden need to voice the question that had been plaguing her mind ever since her mother and sister had disappeared so long ago.

"Yeah?"

"Why did she take you? I mean, why did she take you and not me?"

Kagome opened one chocolate-brown eye and observed her sister for a brief instance before answering flatly, "Because our father liked you best."

"Oh." The answer seemed odd to her sleep-fogged brain. How could a parent like one child better than another? Weren't they supposed to love them both equally?

"Hey, Kikyo?" Kagome spoke up, on the verge of sleep.

"Yeah?"

"I missed you."

The statement took her by surprise. They had been children when they were separated, and she remembered crying bitterly for the first few months after they had disappeared. But her father had told her to forget her mother, to forget Kagome. He had said they were both as good as dead, that she would never see them again, so she shouldn't waste time mourning over their loss. Still, she realized that there had always been an empty hole in her heart where they should have been.

"I missed you, too," she murmured.

Kagome had already fallen asleep.

****

………


	3. Confessions of a Felon

****

Double Take by The Committee

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter Three—Confessions of a Felon

****

………

The maid that came to draw the curtains the next morning nearly had a heart attack when she beheld two of her mistress sleeping instead of just one. Her startled scream jolted them both out of their slumber.

Kagome immediately jumped up into a defensive stance as though she were being attacked, while Kikyo sprang to her feet and cried, "Shut up, Mayu! Shut up!"

The maid was thus quieted, though still fearfully looking from one girl to the other, confusion plainly written across her face. "It's just Kagome," Kikyo said soothingly. "Didn't I ever tell you about my twin, Kagome?"

Mayu shook her head, looking at her mistress's double apprehensively.

"Well, she arrived last night while you were all—er—out doing whatever you do on Friday nights," she finished lamely. "There's no need to freak out."

"Your father didn't say anything when he was down for breakfast…" Mayu faltered.

Kikyo and Kagome exchanged a glance.

"I suppose we should tell him I'm here, shouldn't we?"

"Probably. I don't know how he'll react." She was about to say more, but figured she should wait until they were alone. "Mayu, could you go tell my father I need to talk to him? And don't mention Kagome, please."

"Yes, Miss Kikyo," Mayu bowed and hustled from the room.

"Wow. Servants. I had forgotten about them," Kagome intoned as the little maid disappeared into the hallway.

"Kagome," her sister said hesitantly, drawing her attention back to herself. "I don't know how Dad's going to take your being here," she told her truthfully. "He's pretty bitter toward Mom, and toward you for going with her, not that you had any choice at the time. _Did_ you have a choice?" she added wistfully.

"Not really," her twin shrugged. "I remember waking up in the car halfway to the airport. I guess I _could_ have thrown a tantrum, but…"

"I sometimes wondered," Kikyo admitted. "But the thing is, I just don't know how Dad'll react when he sees you."

"Well, there's not really any way we can avoid the inevitable. We might as well get it over with. After all, what's the worst he can do, throw me out? Then all I have to do is fence my two pieces of loot and live off the proceeds. Wanna come along if he kicks me to the curb?"

It was actually tempting. Kikyo smiled softly. "Sure. But I don't think he'll kick you out. He just might be a little hostile, you know?"

"Hostile I can handle, believe me. There was this one time we were being held in a Turkish prison, and…"

"Maybe later?" Kikyo interrupted plaintively. Part of her didn't want to know anything about Kagome's life as a criminal, and the other part screamed to hear it in all its gory detail. The sensible part of her won out. After all, if the police came, she could always claim she didn't know Kagome had committed any crimes. Then she wasn't really harboring a fugitive, was she?

__

Coward, she chided herself inwardly.

"Let's get dressed and have something to eat before we face him, shall we?" she suggested, motioning her sister to the walk-in closet. "My clothes are at your disposal."

"I like you already," Kagome smiled, disappearing among the racks of designer labels.

Twenty minutes later, they were dressed and had each grabbed something to eat—an apple and piece of toast for Kikyo and a roll and mug of hot chocolate for Kagome. Mayu had already reappeared and informed Kikyo that her father could see her any time that morning. Now all they had to do was actually confront the old man.

"You know, on second thoughts, maybe I should just pawn the jewels and head off," Kagome said, suddenly nervous for the first time. It wasn't like her to feel so jittery—she had worked for years to perfect her calm-in-the-face-of-fire façade. But the fact was, this was her father, whom she hadn't seen in years and who, from what Kikyo said, was more likely to pronounce a vitriolic denunciation on her than a joyous welcome.

"Come on. We'll get it over with and everything will be fine." Kikyo wasn't afraid of the old man, but then, she had been living with him and knew of his eccentricities.

"What if he calls the cops?"

"He hates the cops."

"Well he hates me too."

"We don't know that yet. Now come on."

She led the way to her father's third floor study with Kagome reluctantly trailing behind. "Just don't show him any fear," she whispered as they stood outside the solid oak door. "He can smell it a mile away, and it makes him bloodthirsty—I once watched him sack an entire floor of his office building, just because they were petrified of him. He was giddy for a week afterward."

"Oh, goody," Kagome muttered faintly, steeling herself all the same. She knew better than to show a weak side to someone who hated her.

Kikyo knocked sharply on the door and a muffled response from within bid her enter.

Ryutaro Higurashi sat inside at his desk, poring over some papers from work. He didn't look up as they entered, instead focusing his eyes on a column of figures that he didn't entirely agree with.

Kikyo always mentally referred to him as the old man, even though he was only in his mid-forties. He looked old, and he acted old—like a crotchety old geezer who should've been spending his waking hours sitting on the front porch complaining about the weather rather than running a Fortune 500 company. He was balding, and his gray eyes had long ago lost their shine, except in rare moments of joy such as the aforementioned firing incident. His person was slender, austere almost, and his face held more frown wrinkles than someone his age should have had. At least he had quit smoking last year, she reasoned to herself. He didn't need anything else leading him to a premature death.

"Dad," she said hesitantly as Kagome stood mutely behind her.

"Yes, what is it?" he demanded, still not looking up. "Mayu said you wanted to speak with me about something."

"Dad," she said again, this time with a little more force in her voice. She wanted him to look up. It would be easier, somehow, than just telling him Kagome was here.

"What is it, Kikyo?" He shuffled around the papers on his desk, looking for one in particular.

"Would you please just look at me?"

"What on earth is so impor—" his voice strangled in his throat as he finally looked up at his daughter. At first he thought he was seeing double, but that was immediately ruled out, because they weren't dressed the same. He stared at the second Kikyo with his mouth agape.

"Hiya, Pop," she said with wan smile and a timid wave of her hand, still mostly hiding behind her sister.

"Dad, Kagome—" Kikyo started to explain, but stopped when he suddenly wheeled himself out from behind his desk, circling around to where they were with wide eyes. His gaze never left Kagome's face, almost as if he thought she were some sort of apparition that would disappear the moment he blinked.

"You," he hissed as he came to a stop right in front of her. His eyes narrowed malevolently. "You!" He reached up a sinewy hand to grab her shoulder, yanking her down to his eye level.

"Me!" she repeated, her eyes wide in mock horror. "I think we've established that part!" Her fear had suddenly abandoned her, and she felt like someone on the outside watching this ludicrous scene play out in front of her.

"Kagome, don't provoke him," Kikyo whispered in a warning voice.

"Where's _that woman_?" her father demanded, releasing her shoulder and instead catching hold of her chin to keep her stooped toward him.

Kagome's features turned to impassive steel. "If you're referring to your former wife, she's gone to a better place."

"Rio?" he sneered.

"No. The afterlife."

Ryutaro snorted and let go of her, sharply turning his wheelchair and heading back to his desk. "If that's so, then I doubt she made it to the 'better place.' She'll be rotting in hell with all of the other criminals."

"Such kind charity," Kagome said sarcastically as she stood up again.

"She's not really dead," he shrugged. "It's just another one of her tricks, that's all. And I'm not going to fall for it," he added maliciously.

"I didn't think anyone could survive a bullet to the chest and a plummet from a seven-story building," Kagome said harshly to his back, "but if you say she's still alive, it must be so."

Her father had frozen, and Kikyo was staring at her incredulously, suddenly realizing that Kagome had never actually specified exactly _how_ their mother had died.

"You saw this?" her father's hollow voice echoed through the room.

Kagome's face was impassive. "With my own eyes. Although, I have to admit I did flinch and look away before she hit the pavement. I imagine the Feds will be in touch with you shortly. As soon as the Italian Polizia turn her body over to them, I guess."

Ryutaro abruptly completed his trek back to his desk. He looked as though someone had just handed him a heavy burden, his expression suddenly tired. "If you speak the truth, then I take back what I said. No one should speak ill of the dead." His eyes dully returned to his papers, though the documents no longer seemed so very important.

"So the prodigal has returned, then?"

"You act like I had a choice in leaving," said Kagome, crossing her arms and regarding him closely. "If you don't want me here, I can go again."

"Stay, by all means. No one shall accuse Ryutaro Higurashi of throwing out his own flesh and blood. Besides, it's not as though you have anywhere else to run."

Kagome and Kikyo exchanged a wordless glance. Silence settled across the room like a heavy blanket, smothering its occupants in solemnity. The twins watched their father warily, waiting for him to either continue the conversation or dismiss them from his presence. At last he shot a sidelong glare toward his newly returned daughter, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Well, where is he?"

Kikyo turned an inquiring gaze on her sister just in time to see her stiffen almost imperceptibly.

"Who?" Kagome inquired with a note of innocence in her voice.

"Don't play dumb with me. You know very well who."

The tension in the air thickened, were it possible, as Kikyo shifted her gaze between her father and her twin, inwardly wondering who they were talking about.

"I kept tabs on your mother, just as she kept tabs on me," he added severely. "I didn't end up in this wheelchair because I thought it would be fun to take a bullet. Where is he?"

Kagome's expression was unreadable, though the rigid set of her jaw seemed to soften slightly. "Switzerland," she stated quietly. "Lugano. Boarding school."

"Who are we talking about?" Kikyo demanded, confusion mounting within her. She had thought at first that it might be her mother's lover or something, but a boarding school...?

A satisfied grunt erupted from her father's chest. "We're talking about my son and heir. Akemi named him Sota, didn't she?"

Kagome nodded curtly, and Kikyo exploded.

"Son?! I have a brother?! Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't _you_ tell me?" she added, turning an accusatory glare on her sister.

"He was born about six months after we left," Kagome admitted in a low voice, her eyes never straying from Ryutaro Higurashi's severely lined face. "Didn't Dad ever tell you exactly why he jumped in front of that bullet?"

"Because she was pregnant?" Kikyo surmised, several pieces of the past mentally clicking into place.

"I protect my own," he stated stiffly. "Does he know his mother is dead?"

"No, but he barely knew her to begin with," Kagome volunteered sadly. "By the time he started walking, Akemi was disappearing for weeks on end, leaving us to be watched over by her housekeeper. As soon as he was old enough to be sent to school, she enrolled him and never looked back. I've made it a point to visit him a few times when we were in the area, but she would never come with me."

Kikyo stared at her twin's sorrowful face in perplexed wonder. "But why would she—"

"No one knew why Akemi did anything," Ryutaro interrupted harshly. "She held herself to no one's rules but her own. I take it she enlisted you in her 'activities,' Kagome?" he added shrewdly.

The girl nodded, only her eyes bespeaking an inward misery that seemed very out of place on her.

"Kikyo," her father looked up suddenly, his eyes bright with—what was that emotion swirling within those gray depths? She had never seen the old man exhibit such feeling, even when the doctors told him he would never walk again.

"Yes, father?"

"I wonder if you might leave me alone with your sister? I imagine that after tagging along with your disreputable mother she has acquired a fairly shady past herself, and I'd like to know what I'm up against. Kagome, sit down please."

An apprehensive Kagome let herself sink into one of the two leather chairs directly across from his desk, watching wistfully as her sister disappeared through the exit with an apologetic glance in her direction.

****

………

It was fully two hours before Kagome emerged, roughly unscathed, from the lion's den. Kikyo had settled in the hallway with her latest novel, but hadn't gotten far, her mind still reeling from the revelation that she had another sibling. In fact, she had managed to read only a few pages when her sister finally reappeared.

"Well?" she asked, anxiously peering up at her twin as Kagome firmly shut the door behind herself.

"He made me tell him my life history—and Akemi's. Every heist, every jailbreak—mind you, Istanbul was the only place _I_ was actually caught, and I was only thirteen then, but Akemi had to bust out a few times more than that. But he says I can stay, as long as I keep myself in line and don't start lifting jewelry from the neighbors' strongboxes."

"And what about... our brother?"

"I don't know. For now he may just leave him in school. I'm not sure he even knows himself what to do yet."

The two of them stared at the floor, focusing on the vibrant shade of red that was the carpet beneath their feet. "So you're staying?" Kikyo confirmed timidly.

Kagome snorted, a rare streak of bitterness momentarily surfacing. "I'm definitely not my mother's daughter. I hated my life before now. Akemi lived for the thrill of the next job, but I hated each robbery we undertook. I didn't enjoy planning them, I didn't enjoy executing them, and I definitely didn't enjoy having to beat the crap out of foreign police officers and run for my dear life whenever something went wrong."

"You beat the crap out of someone?" Kikyo asked in disbelief.

Her twin nodded reluctantly. "Akemi had me train in martial arts like there was no tomorrow. She didn't want me holding her back or getting in the way. I don't know why she even took me with her in the first place, except that she wanted someone other than the hired help to watch over Sota. I would have been much better off here. We both would have been."

"You wouldn't have had nearly as much adventure," Kikyo said in a small voice.

"No, I might have actually been able to stay in one place long enough to make some friends," Kagome retorted. "As it was, from the time I was eleven, we shuffled around from location to location, never putting down any roots, Akemi always on my case not to fall behind. You know she had me get my GED when I was fifteen so that I'd stop asking her if I could go back to school? Like any serious college is going to look twice at me when all I have is a GED, and not an actual diploma!"

"I wouldn't worry about that," her sister answered darkly. "They won't look past the Higurashi name before they accept you. I doubt you'd need any sort of high school certification at all. Yes, what is it, Mayu?"

Kagome turned to see the maid standing at the end of the hallway, regarding the two of them with a hesitant expression, her hands unconsciously twisting the small dust rag she held.

"Excuse me, Miss Kikyo," she apologized politely, sparing a tentative glance toward Kagome, "but there's a young man downstairs who's asked to see you. He says his name is Koga."

"Koga!" Kikyo jumped to her feet in excitement. She had told Kagome all about him the night before. She snatched up the other girl's hand and pulled her up. "Come on, Kagome! I'll introduce you to him!"

"Actually," her twin hung back hesitantly.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, since I'm trying to lie low, I thought maybe it would be better if no one knew I was here. You know?"

"So you're just going to hole up in the house for—what?—the next seven years?"

"No." She drew out the word uncertainly, and Kikyo suddenly had a very distinct flashback of a young Kagome beating around the bush whenever she didn't want to say something outright.

"Spit it, Kag," she commanded.

"Well, I thought I might pretend to be you if I left the house. It could work in your favor, you know," she added hastily before Kikyo could object. "I mean, with this whole stalker thing going on, we could really confuse the jerk. What do you think?"

Kikyo frowned and pondered the idea for a moment, but finally shrugged. "I guess. Too bad you can't meet Koga, though. He's really cute."

Her twin smiled in faint amusement. "I'm sure he is."

****

………


	4. Double the Fun

Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi

* * *

Chapter Four—Double the Fun

****

……

Even though he wasn't a religious man, Ryutaro Higurashi liked the idea of the Judeo-Christian Sabbath, one day a week set aside to rest. Sunday was the only day he didn't work with his business papers. Instead, he liked to spend the day in his library with his daughter, reading a book and enjoying the calm atmosphere. And the addition of a second daughter in his household wasn't going to change that tradition, in his mind.

Of course, the way things were in Ryutaro's mind rarely had any bearing on reality. When Sunday morning rolled around, the three Higurashis were duly assembled together, but he found himself, rather than being in a quiet, intellectual paradise, in the presence of two giggling teenaged girls. They finally quieted down after his third and most stringent request for silence.

At that point they just started passing notes like schoolchildren.

They were discussing Kikyo's Saturday evening. When Koga had shown up out of the blue, it was for the purpose of whisking her away on an impromptu date—the classic dinner and a movie. Then, they had gone for ice cream and spent a couple hours after that just talking to each other. He had finally worked up the courage to officially ask her to be his girlfriend.

Actually, his oh-so-eloquent words had been, "Kikyo, I want to make you my woman."

Okay, so maybe he wasn't romantic. Kagome had literally burst out laughing—much to her father's annoyance—when Kikyo told her that part, unable to believe that a guy would seriously use that sentence and even more tickled that he had succeeded in his suit.

Kikyo, though, was still convinced that he was the sweetest thing to ever walk the planet, however chauvinistic his words might sound out of context. She was still inwardly tingling from the previous night, especially when she remembered him kissing her. A rosy blush spread across her cheeks every time she thought about it.

The whole night had been like something out of a dream, and she had had to wait until this morning to share it, because by the time she got in, Kagome was already asleep. _Of course,_ she reflected to herself while her twin scribbled something on the sheet of paper they were passing between themselves at this point, _I'm lucky she's even here to confide in. Normally, I wouldn't have any outlet but my diary._ Yes, life was definitely good at this moment.

The phone rang and both girls looked toward the extension on the table next to where their father sat trying to read _Gulliver's Travels_. Kikyo noted as he set the book aside that the call was coming in on his private line, so she was a little surprised when he hit the speakerphone button.

"This is Higurashi," he said in a stony voice. He didn't like his Sundays to be interrupted.

"Ryutaro Higurashi?" said the voice on the other end of the line.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"This is Special Agent Saito of the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

"What may I do for you, Agent Saito?" His eyes strayed to Kikyo and Kagome, who had long forgotten their note-passing and stared back at him wide-eyed.

"I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news, Mr. Higurashi. Normally we would send someone to see you in person, but we're a bit short-handed at the local office, and…"

"What is the nature of your call?" he interrupted impatiently.

There was a sigh from the other end of the phone, and the agent seemed to hesitate before venturing, "We've been in contact with the Italian Police Force in Rome, sir, and it seems that your ex-wife, Akemi Takeshita, passed away this week under… um… suspicious circumstances."

"There's no need to beat around the bush. I'm well aware of Akemi's less than reputable hobbies—that's why I divorced her in the first place. But I don't see what her passing has to do with me."

"Well, since there's no other next of kin, it was suggested that her body be released to you, if you wished. I'm afraid your former wife was a rather notorious criminal, and a few of the national papers are looking to do a story—"

"You know," Ryutaro said thoughtfully, as though he hadn't heard the agent's last statement, "I was thinking of making a small donation to your organization this year, something along the lines of, say, five hundred thousand dollars?" That was chump change for him, but the federal agent was suitably impressed.

"That's very generous of you, Mr. Higurashi," he said after a brief moment, understanding the full purpose of such a seemingly altruistic gesture. "We will, of course, do everything in our power to keep your good name out of the press. After all, she was your _ex-_wife."

"That is very considerate of you," Ryutaro nodded, the ghost of a smile touching his lips.

The federal agent made some humble remark, then added reluctantly, "There is another reason I was asked to call you, sir. And actually, it's a far more pressing matter."

"And what would that be?"

"Well, it seems that in the wake of your ex-wife's—er—passing, her accomplice, one Keiko Hisamatsu, disappeared."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

The federal agent hesitated, then said apologetically, "We have reason to believe that name is an alias used by your daughter, Kagome. Do you know where she is at present?"

"Kagome?" Ryutaro repeated, his shrewd eyes fixed on the girl in question. "She's here with me right now." Kagome felt her stomach flip over in sick disbelief, but then her father added, "But I must say, Agent Saito, I am somewhat confused. Kagome has been living with me for the last three years at least."

After a brief pause, the voice on the other end of the line stated in a skeptical voice, "Mr. Higurashi, we have in our possession a flight itinerary for Air Italia. It shows that one Kagome Takeshita—Takeshita being your late wife's maiden name—was on a flight from Rome to Toronto last Wednes—"

"You know," Ryutaro mused aloud, tenting his fingertips together thoughtfully, "perhaps I should double my contribution this year."

Silence.

Fully a minute passed by, and then—

"You say Kagome has been with you for the last three years?"

"That's correct."

"I see. Well, I suppose that clears up that little matter. We'll make sure there are no misunderstandings internationally. I'm sorry to have disturbed you on this fine day."

"That's perfectly all right. You're only doing your job. Perhaps your agency should contact my lawyer to discuss the details concerning the transfer of Akemi's remains to the States. After all, she was many things, but among them, she was the mother of my children. It's only decent that she should have a proper resting-place." He then proceeded to relay his lawyer's contact information and end the phone call.

For a long, drawn out moment after he hung up, Ryutaro and Kagome stared at one another, Kikyo looking between the two of them with her mouth hanging open.

Kagome broke the silence with a weak voice. "Thanks."

Her father shrugged. "Say nothing of it."

"That was a lot of money," she protested, looking concerned.

He waved a negligent hand. "I set some aside long ago for situations such as these. But I do expect you to behave, young lady," he added sternly. "None of your mother's tricks, do you understand?"

She swallowed and nodded. Her father picked up his book once more and began reading as though nothing of great importance had occurred.

****

……

"I think I should probably go buy some clothes of my own," Kagome observed Monday morning as she again raided her sister's wardrobe. "I've got my own room now, but the empty closet's pretty depressing."

Kikyo's eyes grew wide with anticipation. "That sounds like fun! But," she added with undisguised disappointment, "if you're still hiding out here, we can't be seen in public together."

"I can go by myself," her twin said reluctantly. "It won't be as enjoyable, but at least when I get back, you can have the fun of critiquing everything I've bought."

Kikyo smiled and nodded. "Just don't do anything to sully my good name," she smirked as she handed over her car keys.

"Why does everyone assume I'm going to commit a crime every five minutes?" Kagome muttered to herself, grabbing one of Kikyo's many purses before retrieving the wad of cash her father had given her the previous day. Her allowance, he had called it. And how. Three hundred dollars just for showing up on his doorstep one rainy night? She should have come back ages ago.

A pang of guilt washed over her as she trudged out to Kikyo's Geo. She _could_ have come back ages ago, could have easily slipped away and hopped on a plane back to the states. She had wanted to many times. But she had never been able to bring herself to abandon her mother. Akemi had chosen her, after all. She had chosen her and taken her into the world and taught her so much—not just about how to break the law, either. Kagome had owed her a debt of loyalty, and only Akemi's death had released her of that. Still, she had often yearned for the sister—and even the father—left behind. She had been telling Kikyo the truth that first night. She had missed her.

She followed her sister's directions to the nearest mall, arriving soon after it opened, before most of the crowds. Kagome enjoyed shopping, not just because she was a girl, but because it was something she hadn't been able to do much of. Akemi had been very big on not having many personal possessions, mainly because she never knew when she would have to throw everything into a bag and skip town. They had lived very simply, for the most part, going from job to job, Akemi constantly needing to satisfy her thirst for danger and intrigue.

Kagome felt like she had had enough intrigue to last a lifetime. She just wanted a normal life, like Kikyo had. A permanent place to live, school, friends, maybe even a boyfriend, though certainly not one that claimed her as "his woman." She giggled to herself as she carried several bags full of newly purchased clothes.

And yet, as desirable as that phantom life was to her, at present she knew it would still elude her. Beneath her outward composure ran a twisting current of apprehension. Those who sought the Shikon would be doing their best to track her, even if they didn't know her by any name but her alias. They could descend upon her at any moment, take her unawares if she let her guard down. For now her dreams of normalcy would be nothing more— just dreams.

After nearly three hours of shopping, she started to get a little hungry. Approaching the food court, she set down her bags and looked speculatively around at her many choices of cuisine.

That was when someone from behind laid a heavy hand on her shoulder.

****

……

Inuyasha had agreed to meet Sango and Miroku at the mall, though he wasn't quite sure why now. While he found it amusing to watch his best friend be continually shot down and/or soundly pummeled by the dark-haired beauty, it was something he could see any day at school. Spring break was for partying, not for hanging out in the food court at the local mall and watching your friends bicker.

"Hey, Inuyasha," Miroku broke into his quiet reverie, having apparently survived another of Sango's head thumps, "here comes your favorite person in the world!"

Inuyasha stopped swishing the straw around in his Coke long enough to turn around and observe Kikyo approaching the court, hands full of various shopping bags.

"Keh," he pronounced derisively, turning back to his drink.

"Looks like Daddy's sent Kikyo on a little shopping spree," Sango observed with a hint of distaste. "Maybe her entire wardrobe went out of season and she has to replace it."

"She looks a little disoriented to me," said Miroku, scrutinizing the girl in question closely, "almost as if she's not sure where she's going. And I don't think I've ever seen her with her hair like that."

Inuyasha turned once again to watch as Kikyo set her bags down, noting the way her silky black hair was pulled up in a spiky bun. It looked oddly good on her and was certainly trendy enough, but Kikyo didn't seem the type to wear that hairstyle. She had always opted for the more conservative fashions, like a braid or a low ponytail—that is, when she did anything with her hair at all. Usually, it just hung down her back like an inky waterfall and looked perfect. Inuyasha mentally shook himself. Kikyo was a witch. Nothing about her was perfect.

"Oh goody," he said in a snide voice, observing Koga approach her from behind, "here comes her wimpy wolf-boy to give her a—"

"Whoa!"

"I didn't know Kikyo could throw a guy like that," Miroku intoned with wide eyes as Koga sailed through the air and landed flat on his back some ten feet away.

"Is he all right?" Sango asked, standing up and trying to see if the prostrate teen was still breathing.

Inuyasha's jaw had gone slack from shock, but the next instant he dissolved into uncontrollable laughter.

"Geez, Kikyo!" he heard Koga shout from the ground. "It's just me! Remember, your boyfriend, Koga?"

"Kikyo" immediately moved out of the defensive stance she had assumed after tossing her supposed assailant. "Oh, sorry!" she said with genuine concern on her face, rushing forward to help him up. "Y-you startled me."

"Geez!" he said again, sitting up and rubbing his back. "Where'd you learn to throw a guy like that?"

"Umm… too many Jackie Chan movies?" she ventured wistfully. Luckily, she had enough presence of mind to mimic her sister's American accent.

"Right," he said, eyeing her with uncertainty.

"Nice move there, Kikyo! That was absolutely priceless!"

Kagome swiveled around, her gaze landing quizzically on the speaker, a boy her age that she couldn't help but notice was extremely good-looking. At least he would have been if he hadn't been wearing that derisive sneer. He was relaxing at a table with two others, a pretty girl and another good-looking guy, all of whom were watching her closely. She realized she was probably surrounded by people who knew Kikyo and thought she was her—there was only one thing to do.

"Listen, Koga," she said, turning back to that unfortunate soul and offering him a hand to stand up, "I have to go. But I'm really sorry. _Really_ sorry. I'll make it up to you, I swear."

She dashed off, snatching up her bags and disappearing into the crowd that had gathered to watch their little scene.

"Wait, Kikyo!" Koga called after her, but she was already gone.

"Umm, is it just me," Sango said after a moment, "or did Kikyo just look at all of us as though she didn't have the faintest clue who we wer—MIROKU!" She jumped as a certain wandering hand came in contact with her butt.

"YOU PERVERT!" she screamed, snatching up a lunch tray and whacking him in the back of his grinning head with it.

"It wasn't just you," Inuyasha murmured as Sango continued to beat their friend senseless. Kikyo hadn't so much as glared at him after he had taunted her. "Oh well," he shrugged to himself, turning once more to watch the abusive entertainment in front of him. He wasn't going to waste any of his time wondering about that wench.

****

……

"YOU DID WHAT!"

"Kikyo, I'm sorry," Kagome apologized again. "It was just a reflex, I swear."

"You threw Koga—_my boyfriend_—over your shoulder and onto the ground, and it was just a _reflex_?" her sister thundered.

"He came up behind me," she protested feebly, then smiled. "But I did promise him I—or you, rather—would make it up to him. Just think! Your first altercation as a couple, and you didn't even have to be involved in the unpleasant part of it! All you have to do is make up and make out!"

Kikyo flushed a delicate shade of pink. "But now he probably thinks I'm some kind of man-throwing psycho," she huffed indignantly. "He'll dump me for sure!"

"Or," came Kagome's bright alternative, "he's impressed that _his woman_ was so strong, and he'll be so proud that he'll immediately propose the next time he sees you!"

Her sister snorted, though a faint smile did touch her lips. "I highly doubt that."

"Well, I don't think he'll dump you over something so little like this. Really, I don't think you need to worry. And if he brings it up, just trust your inventive mouth to get you out of the situation. And not in the conventional way," she added with a wink.

Kikyo turned the color of a steamed lobster. "Kagome!"

"There was someone else there who knew you," her sister added thoughtfully, ignoring her maidenly protest. "At least, I think I heard him say your name. He was laughing pretty hard."

Her eyes narrowed. "What did he look like?" Kagome described the dark-haired boy, right down to the sneer on his face.

"Inuyasha," Kikyo growled.

"You mean that guy that made the bet and—"

"Yes."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay. You couldn't have known he was there."

"Well, if it's all the same to you, I think I'll stay at home from now on. I've got clothes, and I bought a couple of new CDs. Plus I've always got my trusty laptop—endless hours of fun there and I can't get you in trouble if I'm on it, either."

"You didn't mean to," Kikyo said, her anger having vanished. "It was just a stupid accident. Just don't do it again, okay?"

"Okay," Kagome said uncertainly. "Although, Koga probably won't be sneaking up on you again from behind anytime soon."

"That's probably a good thing," her twin grudgingly admitted, and they both grinned at one another.

****

……

__

RING! RING!

One of the maids had plugged the phone back in while tidying Kikyo's room that morning. Kikyo looked up from _Wuthering Heights_ and momentarily wondered if she should answer or not. Koga had this number, though, and he would probably try to call her after Kagome's little incident.

She sighed and picked up the receiver, hoping it was her boyfriend on the other end.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Listen creep—" she started hotly.

"Kikyo." The way he said her name sent shivers up her spine.

"Who is this?"

"Your admirer, of course. Who else would it be?"

"Stalking is illegal," she intoned.

The voice on the other end laughed, a deep, throaty chuckle that made her want to reach through the phone wires and throttle him. "Feeling feisty, are we? I saw your little show at the mall today, and I must admit you took me by surprise. I had no idea you harbored such violence. Although I was pleasantly impressed as well. Taming the wild animal is half the fun, you know. The other half will be when I pin you to the ground and squeeze the breath out of your throat, all the while—"

Kikyo slammed the receiver down on its cradle, cursing herself for having indulged him so long. The phone rang again and she snatched it up, snarling, "Stop calling, you creep!"

"Kikyo?" said the all-too-familiar voice on the other end, nearly causing her to drop the phone.

"Koga? I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you! This jerk's been prank calling me, and I just assumed—"

"You thought I was some pervert prank caller?" her boyfriend asked in confusion. "Don't you have Caller ID?"

"Not yet, but I'm getting it," she vowed. "Hey, about earlier—I am so sorry!" She looked up and found Kagome standing in her doorway with a guilty expression. "So how can I make it up to you?"

Koga seemed to hesitate, and Kikyo's heart dropped into her knees. He was going to dump her, she was sure of it. "I don't know," he said uncertainly. "It's not every day a guy gets thrown across the food court by his new girlfriend. I'm not even sure where to start…"

She stood mutely, phone to her ear and tears welling up in her eyes. Kagome's brows arched in surprise and anger.

"…How about we go get something to eat?" Koga suggested brightly. "Then as punishment for tossing me like a twenty-pound bag of meal, you can spend the rest of the evening with me?"

"Wh-what?" Kikyo said in something of a stupor. "You're not angry with me?"

"Angry? No way! I mean, you took me by surprise, but I have to appreciate a woman who knows how to take care of herself. Just so long as you let _me_ do that job when we're together."

"Gladly," she laughed, wiping away the tears that had tumbled down her cheeks moments previously. In the doorway, Kagome smiled encouragingly.

"So what time should I come and pick you up?"

"Any time. I'll be ready when you want."

"So in, say, half an hour?"

"Sure."

"Okay, see you then, Koga."

"Yeah."

And on that brilliant note, he hung up. Kikyo let out a cry of delight as the phone dropped from her hand. "He didn't dump me!" she cried joyously to Kagome, jumping up and down as her twin beamed at her. "And we're going out in half—an—hour—" She stopped her celebration as realization hit her full in the face. "Half an hour!" she repeated, suddenly alarmed. "What am I supposed to wear!"

"You can borrow something of mine," Kagome offered with a radiant smile.

****

……

The phone pealed out its fourth ring and the answering machine picked up. _"You've reached Kikyo Higurashi. I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave your name and number after the tone."_

Beep.

"Kikyo. You belong to me. You should know better than to look at other guys. I'll have to punish you for this. But first, I'll have to punish _him_ for thinking he had the right to touch you. You're _mine_, do you hear? Mine!"

****

……


	5. Tuesday

**Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.**

* * *

Chapter Five — Tuesday

* * *

Stifling a massive yawn, Kikyo trudged into the breakfast room the next morning, only to discover that her twin had beaten her there. Kagome sat at the table with a half-eaten croissant in front of her, her eyes fixed on the newspaper and an emotionless expression on her face.

Perhaps it was just fatigue.

"Where's Dad?" Kikyo inquired, snagging a box of cereal and pouring a liberal amount into her bowl.

"Work," Kagome answered blankly. "It's after ten, you know."

Actually, she didn't know, since she hadn't bothered glancing at any clocks yet. Knowing she had nothing of importance going on today, she had stayed out until the early morning hours with Koga. It was, after all, Spring Break. The two of them had ended up going to a late movie, though Kikyo would have been hard-pressed to say which one, exactly. It's not as though they had been watching it or anything.

Last night had been perfect. In fact, she half wondered that Kagome wasn't demanding details, since she knew her sister had fallen asleep on the couch while trying to wait up for her. She couldn't possibly be sore that Kikyo had decided to let her sleep rather than waking her up and filling her in on the evening's events, could she?

"So, anything interesting in the news?" Kikyo found herself asking tentatively as she poured her milk, sensing that beneath her sister's stoic facade something was very wrong.

Kagome wordlessly folded the paper and flipped it across the table, nearly landing it in Kikyo's bowl of cereal.

"I didn't mean for you to..."

"The article on the sidebar, halfway down the page," she interrupted solemnly.

Kikyo's eyes obediently traveled down, and the next instant, her mouth rounded to a silent, "oh." _Burglar's Remains Identified as Notorious Jewel Thief,_ the headline read. No wonder Kagome had seemed so lackluster.

"Mom?" she asked tentatively. Kagome nodded.

"_'Rome, Italy. Italian officials have identified the remains of a cat burglar shot and killed last week. A statement released late Monday evening claims the body is that of an international criminal known only as the White Lotus,'_" Kikyo read aloud, feeling instinctively as though this should be affecting her more than it seemed to be. "_'Forensic officials confirmed a positive ID, thus bringing to close a manhunt that has spanned nearly two decades, and which involves over seventy million dollars' worth of stolen jewels and artifacts_—' Seventy million!" Kikyo interjected into her own reading, her wide eyes jerking from the page to her twin sitting across from her.

"Seventy million?" she repeated incredulously.

"For as long as she was working, that's not really unheard of," Kagome shrugged. "Keep reading."

Kikyo acquiesced, returning her gaze back to the paper in front of her. "_'The suspect was killed last Wednesday while fleeing from members of the Italian Police Squad. The brief description released states only that she was a woman in her mid- to late-thirties, of Asian descent, but officials aver that they have received confirmation on her identity._

_"'The White Lotus, who has traveled under many aliases, has long eluded capture, having been sought by Interpol across the world. Her early career was marked by a series of museum robberies, where only a silk flower was left at the scene of the crime. After a long absence from the criminal world, she resurfaced, abandoning the flowers in favor of counterfeit jewelry, replacing the pieces she stole with well-made copies. Because of the high quality of her replicas, some officials believe that many of her heists have yet to be discovered._

_"'Details of her personal life remain scarce at best, though rumors abound as to her true identity. Officials refused to comment on what would become of her remains, but an anonymous source from within reports that the body has been cremated and the ashes are to be sent overseas to an undisclosed location.'_ Cremated, huh?" Kikyo finished, folding the paper and setting it aside. She brought a spoonful of cereal to her mouth, only to discover that it had become incredibly soggy during her reading. Pushing the bowl away in distaste, she flopped back in her chair and leveled a somber gaze at her sister.

"Are you all right, Kagome?"

Said girl refused to meet her gaze. "I'm fine," she answered dully, obviously lying through her teeth. Kikyo said nothing, watching her closely, trying to see past her emotionless facade.

Kagome felt her gaze and finally looked up, eyes watery. "It's just," she started apologetically, "there was a lot more to her than just being a cat burglar. She was funny, and lively, and way too smart for her own good. I know it wasn't right for her to do what she did, but . . ." Her voice trailed off, and a lone tear slipped down one cheek. With an annoyed flick of her hand she wiped it away.

"She didn't deserve to die," Kagome finished in a low voice. "But she would rather have died than go to prison. She told me so herself often enough. I was such a disappointment to her."

That last statement caught Kikyo off-guard. "I'm sure you weren't," she found herself consoling, even though she wasn't sure at all. What few memories she had of their mother flashed before her eyes as she recalled the vibrant, smiling woman. "I'm sure she loved you very much," she added with a pang of regret. "At least you got to know her."

The two girls stared sadly at one another for a long, silent spell before Kagome finally pushed back her chair and stood up. "I'm sorry you didn't," she stated quietly. "I really am." She left the room, and Kikyo heard her soft footsteps pad upstairs a moment later.

Suddenly she didn't have much of an appetite. Grabbing a banana for later, she headed back to her own room, tossing the fruit on her side table before collapsing on her bed, feeling for the first time in ages like she wanted to do nothing more than cry for a long, long time.

It was then that she noticed the blinking light on her answering machine.

Why did the maids keep plugging that thing back in, she silently wondered to herself. A feeling of dread knotted in the pit of her stomach as she reached out her hand and pressed the retrieval button.

………….

"Life's not fair," Kagome grumbled out loud. She was standing in the middle of her bedroom, staring at the spartan decor and feeling completely drained. Her mind seemed fixed on her mother, the newspaper article having brought Akemi's smiling face to the forefront of her thoughts.

She really didn't understand her mother, that much was for certain. How could the woman abandon a life of wealth and security for one of transience and danger, she wondered not for the first time in her life.

_"Money can't buy happiness, Kagome. Remember that."_

That had practically been her mother's mantra. Happiness—that's what it always came down to in the end. Akemi had been a thrill-seeker, someone who found joy in taking risks, in outwitting others, in breaking rules. She had never been content to be in the same place for very long and often found as much pleasure in planning a job as she did in carrying it out.

Kagome sighed heavily, again feeling the great disparity between herself and her mother. Kikyo would probably have been far more suited to playing accomplice, the back of her mind whispered idly.

Speaking of Kikyo...

Her twin suddenly flew into the room, face ashen and eyes wide. "What's wrong?" Kagome inquired.

"Come listen," was Kikyo's only response as she caught hold of her sister's arm and dragged her across the hallway to her own bedroom. Her hand trembled as she pressed the playback button on her answering machine, and the sinister voice filled the room, the recording sounding tinny and hollow.

_"Kikyo. You belong to me. You should know better than to look at other guys. I'll have to punish you for this. But first, I'll have to punish him for thinking he had the right to touch you. You're mine, do you hear? Mine!"_

With a horrified expression, Kikyo turned to her twin. "What am I supposed to do?"

"If I were you, I'd call my boyfriend and warn him that some psycho could be coming after him," Kagome answered, her mouth suddenly dry. "For heaven's sake, Kikyo, what were you and Koga doing last night anyway?"

"We're dating! What do you think we were doing?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You spent the whole night making out in public places, didn't you?" she accused, picking up the phone and offering it to her sister. "Not the wisest thing to do when you know there's some creep out there who's obsessed with you."

Kikyo snatched the phone away, her face flushed an embarrassed red. "I thought that being with my boyfriend would chase this guy away. I mean, Koga's not exactly a ninety-pound weakling." She punched in a series of numbers and listened to the ring tone as it sounded. "He's not picking up," she complained after a moment, her eyes filled with worry.

"Calm down. I'm sure everything's okay."

The two of them stared at one another as Kikyo continued to wait for some sort of answer. When at last the phone connected, Kagome could clearly hear the voice on the other end.

"Yo. Talk to me."

"Koga," Kikyo breathed, relief washing over her features. "It's me, Kikyo."

"Hey, babe. We still on for tonight?"

"Yeah," she nodded as Kagome gestured for her to get to the point. "I just got this really weird message on my answering machine, though. Remember that guy I told you about yesterday when you called?"

"The pervert prank-caller?"

"Yes. He left a message threatening to come after you. Koga—"

"And you're calling because you're worried about me? Don't worry, Kikyo. Anyone who tries to mess with me will crawl away wishing he'd kept to himself. Besides, if that punk does try to come after me, it'll save me the trouble of tracking him down. It pisses me off that someone would be harassing you like this."

"Koga, you need to be careful!"

"Hey, no worries. Listen, I gotta go — I'm driving so I shouldn't be on the phone for long. I'll see you tonight, babe."

"Okay. Just be careful."

He laughed then, in an endearing way. "I will. I promise."

Kikyo hung up the phone, never breaking eye contact with her twin.

"He's certainly confident, isn't he?" Kagome observed dryly.

"He's captain of the wrestling team this year," Kikyo replied with a shrug. "He knows how to take care of himself, I guess."

"And now that he's been forewarned, he shouldn't have any problems."

Her sister's assurance seemed to comfort her somewhat. She straightened her shoulders, regaining her calm composure and feeling suddenly much better. "That's right," Kikyo avowed. "Everything will be just fine."

……………

Koga hung up the phone, a faint smile playing about his lips. He tossed the cell into the passenger seat and put on his turn signal, moving over into the right lane to exit the freeway. It really was sweet of Kikyo to worry about him like that. His woman was definitely a keeper.

He applied his foot to the brakes as he cruised up the off-ramp. Of course, the car would have responded much better had the brake lines not been cut.

_Not good_, was the only thought that chased through his mind as he plowed into the back of a green SUV in front of him.

……………

_"Dr. Takani to Room 105. Dr. Takani to Room 105, please."_

Kikyo raced down the hospital hallway, skirting by scrub-clad workers and hushed clusters of visitors. "_Everything will be just fine_," she muttered sarcastically. "What was I thinking?"

The call had come only an hour after she had hung up with Koga — one of his buddies had phoned to say he'd been in an accident, that he was in the hospital. Ginta hadn't known anything more than that, though, having gleaned the information from Koga's frantic parents.

Kikyo's heart felt like it was going to leap out of her chest with its erratic pounding. She maneuvered her way through the maze of stark white corridors, hell-bent on getting to Koga's room as soon as she possibly could.

She would have given almost anything to have Kagome with her, just for moral support. They had both decided it would be better for her to remain at home, though. And so it was that Kikyo came alone, resisting the urge to break into an all-out run. Already she was short of breath.

_Should've worked harder in PE_, a small voice at the back of her mind grumbled.

Room 217. She halted abruptly when she noticed that its doors were firmly shut. Apprehension welled up in her throat as she tried to picture what lay beyond that smooth slab of wood. Should she wait...? Should she knock...?

Even as she hesitated, the door opened, and a man in a white lab coat came walking out, clipboard in hand and attention fixed on the nurse chatting at his side. Kikyo paid no heed to what they were saying but instinctively bolted forward into the room.

"Kikyo!"

The sound of his voice had never sounded so good to her ears. Koga sat on the edge of the hospital bed, one arm bandaged and a wolfish grin plastered on his face.

"A-are you all right?" she managed, choking on the sudden wave of relief that crashed down on her.

"Just a little whiplash and a sprained wrist," he answered, lifting his tightly wrapped arm as though it were a victory trophy. "Thank the stars for air bags, right?"

"But you're okay? Are they going to keep you here?"

"Nope. My parents are off signing the release forms as we speak."

A real smile touched her face at last. It was quickly followed by an anxious frown. "I told you to be careful," Kikyo admonished.

Koga scowled. "There's not much a guy can do when his breaks stop working. If that pervert of yours cut my break cables, he's more of a coward than I originally thought. I'm going to track him down and wipe the floor with his face."

"Kick him once for me," she muttered.

In response, Koga patted the spot next to him on the bed, motioning for her to sit down. She complied, and he immediately put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight. "I'll kick him more than once for you," he promised. "Don't worry. We'll get this creep."

Boyfriends could be so very comforting, Kikyo decided.

……………

"I heard Koga was in an accident."

Inuyasha and Miroku looked up from their fast food as Sango slid into a third chair at the restaurant table.

"What kind of accident?" Miroku inquired curiously, a faint note of concern in his voice.

"Car," came her answer. She took a sip of her drink then added, "They took him to the hospital."

"How many bones did he break?" Inuyasha asked, idly dipping a french-fry into his ketchup. There was a slight edge to his voice that did not go unnoticed by the other two at the table.

"That's a bit callous of you," Miroku pointed out.

In response, his friend snorted and rolled his eyes. "You know I've never been much of a Koga-fan. I sure as hell am not going to start pretending now just because he got hurt."

"They were just running some tests on him," Sango supplied, a frown on her face. "I heard he only had a couple minor injuries."

"See? Nothing to worry about," said Inuyasha. "So what do we have planned for today?"

And that easily, the subject was changed.

…………

"Kagome, are you in here?" Kikyo tentatively peeked her head into the library, noting how dim the room was with only one lamp lit. It seemed completely deserted, but one of the maids claimed her sister had come here an hour ago, and no one had seen her since.

"Kagome?" she asked again, stepping cautiously into the room.

"How's your boyfriend?"

She jumped at the sudden question, then whirled to find her twin crawling out of an air vent in the wall. Kagome was covered from head to toe in dust, lending her black clothing a grayish hue.

"What were you doing in there?" Kikyo demanded.

"I asked you a question first," came the response as her sister brushed the drab particles from her long sleeves and legs.

"He's been released from the hospital, no major injuries. The doctors say he's going to be very sore for the next couple of days, but other than that, he'll be fine. Now what were you doing in the air vent?"

"Investigating. I found a copy of the house blueprints. Do you happen to know why Dad's never had this place wired with a security alarm?"

A grim smile curved across Kikyo's lips. "He doesn't trust technology. He prefers to have guard dogs roaming the grounds instead."

"They were all hiding in their doghouse the night I came, trying to stay dry," Kagome pointed out. "So what does he do for security when it's raining?"

"There are a few guards that patrol the grounds as well. And he sleeps with a gun under his pillow."

"He's crazy."

"Tell me about it."

Kagome shrugged and strode across the room, picking up a black duffel bag sitting next to the couch. Kikyo hadn't noticed its presence before, but she could see now that it was the same one her sister had arrived with. "Are you going somewhere?" she inquired apprehensively.

"I'm going to install a home security system," Kagome answered. "I have a few parts with me, and I ordered the rest of them today."

"You know how to wire for security?"

Her twin hesitated a moment. "Well, I know how to take a system apart," she answered. "How difficult can putting it together be?"

"You don't know what you're doing," Kikyo flatly accused.

"But I have plenty of time to figure it out, seeing as how I'm going to be confined to this house for days on end. Besides," she added quietly, "we need one, whether Dad wants to admit it or not."

The tone of her voice startled Kikyo, and she suddenly recalled that Kagome was running from demons of her own. "Who's chasing you?" she asked, her voice mirroring her sister's somber tones. Kagome didn't respond immediately, instead unzipping her bag and rifling through its contents.

"Kagome..."

"Do we have power tools around here anywhere?" her twin inquired with feint curiosity.

Kikyo bristled. "Don't change the subject! Who's chasing you?"

"No one's chasing me, Kikyo," she placated gently. "I'm just taking precautions in case anyone ever does..."

"Who?" Kikyo demanded. "Kagome, please tell me. Who did Akemi steal the Shikon no Tama from? They're the ones looking for you, right?"

Her questions hung in the air for a long moment, the silence of the dimly lit room pressing down on them both. Neither girl moved, as though they were both in a trance, waiting for something to break them free.

At last, Kagome sighed. "It's a yakuza called the Onigumo. They're bad news, very bad. They have their hands in a hundred cartels, and their leader is as ruthless as they come. If the _polizia_ hadn't killed Akemi, the Onigumo eventually would have."

"Why would she intentionally get on the bad side of yakuza?"

"She was obsessed with the Shikon," Kagome shrugged. "And she liked to live dangerously. She was crazy, just like Dad."

"Fine gene pool we come from," Kikyo dourly agreed.

Her twin sadly shook her head. "Anyway, it's lucky for us that the Onigumo only knew Akemi as the White Lotus, or they'd probably be knocking down our door already."

"The FBI knows who she was, but the Onigumo don't?"

Again Kagome shrugged, not wanting to voice her thoughts on this particular question. "Anyway, a measly security system isn't going to save us if they ever did show up, but at least it gives me something to do, right?"

"Right," Kikyo faintly replied, her own problems suddenly seeming quite small.

…………


	6. End of the Break

**Disclaimer: _InuYasha_ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.**

* * *

Chapter Six - End of the Break

* * *

The phone pealed loudly, causing Kikyo's eyes to jerk up from the novel she was reading. Kagome was sprawled next to the device, tapping in something on her computer. "It's him again," she commented, eyes glancing over to the newly installed caller ID box. "Either that or one of your friends is calling from a pay phone." 

"Don't answer it," Kikyo replied.

In response, Kagome quirked an eyebrow in her sister's direction and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" she said pleasantly, affecting Kikyo's American accent as she turned her attention back to her computer screen. She continued typing for a moment, then said abruptly, "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch any of that. I'm kind of in the middle of something here."

Kikyo frowned, trying to figure out if the person on the other end of the line actually was her stalker or not. Another moment of silence on their end followed, only to be interrupted by Kagome saying politely, "Listen, do you think you could try calling back some other time? I'm busy right now." She didn't wait for an answer, but hung up the phone and turned back to her laptop.

"Well?" Kikyo prompted. "Who was it?"

Kagome cast her a sideways glance. "The town's resident psycho—who do you think?"

"What did he say?"

Her twin shrugged. "I wasn't listening. I was too busy keying his callback number into a reverse trace. The pay phone was about five blocks away."

Kikyo sat up straight. "Then we know he lives in this area!"

"No," Kagome shook her head. "The phone he called from yesterday was across town."

"He called yesterday?"

"Yeah. You were in the shower. And he called the day before while you were off bidding your boyfriend goodbye, and that was from a different pay phone. I let the machine pick that call up, since you were gone. When's Koga supposed to get back, anyway?"

Kikyo slumped back in her chair with a perturbed expression. "His return flight is late tomorrow night, so I won't even get to see him until school on Monday. Why?"

"You've been moping."

It was true, Kikyo had to admit. Her spirits had been down for the last few days, since Koga had left with his family to visit a grandmother up north. "I'm just bored, I guess," she stated.

Kagome shot her a flat look. "Then go do something. It's a beautiful Saturday, and it's not like you have to stay cooped up in this place." She must have sensed the objection within her sister, because she added, "Don't stick around because of me. I can find ways to amuse myself."

It was Kikyo's turn to wear an expression of disbelief. "Kagome, you've been crawling around air ducts for the last four days. You're so stir-crazy that you've taken to baiting a psychopath over the phone, just to have something to do."

"Like I said, I can find ways to amuse myself."

"Cutting the power line might have amused you, but the rest of us found it rather irritating."

"That was an accident," Kagome grumped. "I was just trying to splice a couple of wires. Besides, I fixed it, didn't I?"

Kikyo's impending response was interrupted by the ring of the telephone. Both girls turned toward the disruptive object, and Kagome promptly rolled her eyes. "Not again," she muttered, reaching over to pick up the handset.

"You know," she said without so much as a greeting, "with the number of quarters you've wasted calling here, you could have bought another couple figurines for that _Dungeons and Dragons_ set you've no doubt been collecting since childhood."

Kikyo watched, wide-eyed, as Kagome pulled the receiver away from her ear and gave it a funny look. "What's he saying?" she inquired breathlessly.

"_He_ hung up on _me_ this time," her twin replied, frowning as she placed the phone back in its cradle. "I must have touched a nerve." She tapped the latest phone number into her computer and added, "Looks like he walked down the street half a mile to make that second call. I wonder if he'll make a third one..."

"I hope not," said Kikyo as she returned to her book.

When the phone rang again ten minutes later, her entire body tensed. Kagome, on the other hand, was as calm as ever. "It's not him," she commented as she picked it up. "Hello?"

"Who is it?" Kikyo demanded.

"Oh, hi Yuka!" her twin responded into the mouthpiece, shooting her a frown and mouthing the words, "Who's Yuka?"

Kikyo immediately gestured for her to pass the phone, scrambling out of her chair to retrieve it. Kagome, however, just smiled impishly and continued on the conversation. "A party at your house tonight? Of course I'll be there! You know I wouldn't miss it!" Kikyo slapped one hand to her forehead in dramatic lamentation.

"Yes, it really is the perfect way to end Spring Break," Kagome said, her eyes laughing at her sister. "I'll see you tonight, then."

"Kagome!" Kikyo complained the moment her twin hung up the phone. "I don't want to go to a party tonight!"

"Yeah, Yuka seemed pretty surprised that I agreed so readily," came the flippant response. "But it'll give you something to do."

"There's no reason for me to go. Koga's out of town, and my friends will be too busy chasing after their latest crushes to hang out with me."

"She said it was just going to be a small gathering," Kagome waved aside her concerns. "I'm sure there'll be some game or something that you can play."

"I don't want to go, Kagome," she frowned.

"But you already promised Yuka!"

At the moment, Kikyo wanted nothing more than to wipe the cheerful smile off Kagome's face. She knew when she'd lost a battle, but she refused to concede this one graciously. With an unhappy grunt, she picked up her book and flounced off to the library, leaving behind one very amused twin.

**o.o.o.o**

"'Small gathering,'" Kikyo muttered sarcastically. She slammed the car door and glared at the line of vehicles stretching out in front of her. She'd had to park halfway down the street from Yuka's house, and she could already hear the pulsing bass of a stereo on full blast. Several other classmates were trekking to the large house on the corner, where every light within blazed and various silhouettes moved behind the pale curtains. Kikyo fell into line behind a group of fellow party-goers, noting that she didn't recognize any of them.

The door to the house was opened only wide enough for one person at a time to pass, partly as a futile precaution to keep the music from disturbing the rest of the neighborhood. The hostess herself stood granting her guests entrance, no doubt sizing up every male that walked by her, Kikyo thought a bit cattily.

"Kikyo! You made it!" Yuka swung the door open wide upon sight of her, thereby allowing the pounding music to blare out in deafening waves. Kikyo took an involuntary step back, but recovered her wits and stepped into the crowd within the house.

"Looks like enough people stayed in town to have a decent get-together," Yuka yelled over the steady house beat, abandoning her post at the door to link her arm in Kikyo's and guide said girl further into the room. "Ayumi's still out of town, but Eri's here, somewhere... There she is, talking to Hojo!" She pointed the couple out in the crowd, leaning in close to whisper, "Eri's got it bad for him."

"Why?" Kikyo responded a bit disdainfully.

Yuka either didn't hear the remark or decided to ignore it. "The Shichinin gang arrived about twenty minutes ago with a couple of kegs," she rattled on, gesturing toward the school's resident delinquents who were positioned near the stairway. "That Bankotsu's so yummy..."

Kikyo had barely noted the gang's presence when someone else caught her eyes. "Why'd you invite Inuyasha?" she hissed, seeing her archenemy near the snack table.

"Honey," Yuka replied, giving her a knowing look, "at this sort of party, most people don't get invited. They just show up. Besides," she added lightly, "he's easy on the eyes. A good party can always use more eye candy."

Kikyo scowled at her friend's treacherous remarks, but Yuka merely shrugged and added, "He came with Miroku. You and I both know nothing short of death would keep that pervert away from a group of drunken, half-naked sophomores." Sure enough, squeals and giggles erupted from the living room, where a particularly dense crush of bodies writhed to the blasting stereo. Kikyo caught a glimpse of Miroku among them, looking as though he were in heaven.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips. "Remind me why I came to this thing?" she said.

"We're seniors!" Yuka responded, squeezing her arm to emphasize the words. "We're graduating in less than two months! These might very well be the best years of our life!"

"Geez, I hope not," Kikyo answered.

Her friend smiled, accustomed to her somber outlook. Snatching a beer off the beverage table, she handed it over with a wink. "Live a little, Kikyo, while you still can. What can it hurt?"

Kikyo, however, shoved the beer back into Yuka's hand. "You expect me to drink this?" she inquired in feigned contempt. "It's not even imported!"

Yuka merely laughed.

**o.o.o.o**

Two hours later, the pounding music beat a heavy tatoo into Kikyo's skull. She wasn't exactly sure why she was still there, truth be told. She had already made the rounds a couple of times, danced a little, mingled, and even had a slight buzz from a wine cooler Yuka had produced earlier in the evening. Yuka and Eri both were nowhere to be seen at the moment, probably having made off with some boy-du-jour to one of the upper-story rooms.

"I should go home," she muttered to herself as people brushed by on either side.

A wandering hand came in contact with her backside, the touch too calculating to have been an accident. Kikyo immediately whirled and slapped the perpetrator's face.

"I'm not drunk, Miroku," she ground out, instinctively knowing who was behind such an affront. "Keep your perverted hands to yourself!"

Miroku backed up, arms raised defensively. "It was an honest mistake, I assure you," he protested. "I meant to grab Sango's butt!" This, of course, earned him a second slap from Sango, who had been standing—unbeknownst to Kikyo—nearby.

The two girls exchanged a speculative glance, as though sizing one another up for a potential ally. In the end, Kikyo averted her eyes, turning back toward the perverted teen and commenting sarcastically, "Yeah, well next time, look before you touch. You'll save yourself at least one slap."

"I always look before I touch," Miroku answered with a smirk. Both girls slapped him again.

"I don't see what you're getting so worked up about, Kikyo," a voice from behind drawled, and Kikyo turned to glare at Inuyasha. "Obviously Miroku made a mistake. After all, no one in his right mind would want to grope you intentionally."

"Charming as always, Inuyasha," she coldly replied. "Shouldn't you be off trying to score your newest conquest? Or perhaps you've chalked up enough marks on your bedpost and you're calling it a night?"

"Keh. Jealousy doesn't become you, Kikyo."

"Your arrogance is so unfounded," she answered, rolling her eyes. "You'll have to excuse me; the hot air you're spouting is stifling the room." She slipped past him, flipping her long hair over one shoulder in a dismissive gesture. She could feel his gaze on her retreating back, and it was in no way friendly.

"Asshole," Kikyo muttered under her breath. The last thing she needed tonight was an encounter with Inuyasha and his crew. "And on that note, I can officially go home," she reasoned, heading for the front door and plotting means of revenge against her twin.

A cool night breeze met her skin as she stepped down the walkway toward the street. The orange glow of the street lights blotted out most of the stars, but she could just make out Polaris to the north, its icy gleam like a tiny beacon in the dark sky. The street was practically deserted—those who were still inside were there for the long haul. The party would no doubt continue into the early morning hours, if the cops didn't come to break it up first. Really, it was a wonder none of the neighbors had called them yet. Kikyo sighed as she trudged to her car, wishing that she'd stayed home.

A slight rustling sound was the only warning she had before something hard connected with the back of her skull, sending her flying forward. A cry erupted from her lips as she skidded across the ground, stars bursting before her blurred vision. Her mind screamed for her to get up, to run as fast as she could, but her body refused to cooperate. Struggling just to sit up, she listened to the sound of approaching footsteps, willing her eyes to focus on the triple image of her attacker.

"You're so difficult to get alone," he said in a low, gruff voice. There was something familiar about his tones, though he was obviously making an effort to disguise his identity.

Kikyo opened her mouth to scream, but he moved like lightning, one hand around her throat as he shoved her back down to the pavement. "Do you really think anyone's going to hear you?" he inquired, slightly amused.

He was wearing a dark ski mask, she realized, with only holes cut for the eyes—eyes that were filled with a savage gleam. Preservation instincts kicked in, and Kikyo struggled against her assailant, the pain at the back of her head momentarily forgotten. He already had the advantage, however. In no time at all, both of his hands were around her neck, crushing her windpipe. She clawed at his arms, desperately gasping for air.

"I love the fear in your eyes," he murmured, leaning forward and releasing one hand's deadly grip. She struggled to be free of the other, only to freeze in her movements when she caught the gleam of a street light reflected in the blade of a knife. It was all she could do to keep breathing what little air his grip afforded.

Her attacker ran the cool, flat metal across one of her cheeks. "So beautiful," he crooned in a low voice, "and so distant, unattainable. You think you're better than the rest of us, don't you?" His tone had taken a decidedly sinister turn.

He flipped the edge of the knife to her throat, just below her ear. "Cry for me?" he prompted, putting the slightest pressure against it. She felt the sting of the blade, knew that it had broken the skin. Involuntary tears were already pooling in the corners of her frightened eyes.

"P-please, don't..." she managed as the first slipped out.

It made him laugh. "That's right, Kikyo. Beg me for you life. Beg me for forgiveness."

He trailed his blade delicately back toward her ear, and she felt her warm blood spring up from the shallow cut. _This is it,_ thought Kikyo, her vision fading as she tried to focus on his wild eyes. _This is it. I'm going to die, and there's nothing I can do about it._

The wound at the back of her head throbbed, and she could feel her body slipping into the numbness of shock. Her last coherent memory before she slipped into the dark abyss was of sirens and flashing red-and-blue lights. The weight of her assailant suddenly lifted off her, scuffling off into the bushes, and Kikyo knew no more.

**o.o.o.o**

"... need to get a statement..."

"... very serious..."

"...the least bit concerned? We need to know..."

"Get out."

In the haze of voices, her father's terse command pierced through her mind and pulled her back to the world of consciousness. One of the other voices sounded indignant at the order.

"Mr. Higurashi, be reasonable. Your daughter has been attacked; she's sustained some serious injuries, and we need to know..."

"You heard me the first time. Get out."

Kikyo cracked her eyes open just in time to see her wheelchair-bound father give his most intimidating glare to three tall figures towering over him. They all backed up a pace and gulped. "Mr. Higurashi..." one of them started again.

"My daughter has been through enough tonight without you cretins trying to pick through her memories. She's safe now, and she needs to rest. I have already thanked you for your assistance. There is nothing else here for you to do."

Willing her eyes to focus, Kikyo gradually became aware that the three strangers were dressed in police uniforms. More importantly, she realized that she was at home, lying in her own bed, with no recollection of how she had come here. "Cops," she muttered a semi-lucid warning, too soft for anyone to hear. "He hates them." Her father was bull-dogging the policemen out the door, instructing one of the maids to show them to their vehicles.

Kikyo closed her eyes again, feeling oddly secure. The sleep that followed was unencumbered by dreams of any sort.

**o.o.o.o**

The sun was streaming into her room, cheerful and bright and... completely irritating. "Ugh," Kikyo grunted, squinting at the window and its infernal light.

"Do you want me to close the curtains?"

That was Kagome's voice. Kikyo turned her head, wincing a little at the pain caused by such simple movement, and discovered her twin standing next to her bed.

"Do you want me to close the curtains?" Kagome asked again.

"Please," she croaked, suddenly aware of how dry her throat was. Her head throbbed and her body felt like lead, too heavy to move. Kagome was quick to pull the drapes together, thereby blocking out the offending sunshine. The resulting dimness helped somewhat to alleviate Kikyo's headache.

She watched with detached interest as Kagome moved back to the bedside and sat gingerly in a chair that had been placed there. Her twin had been crying, if the redness of her eyes was anything to go by, and her face was unusually somber. Neither of them spoke for a long moment.

"Is it really that bad?" Kikyo inquired at last, studying her sister for an answer.

Kagome was like a closed book at the moment, no outward emotions revealed in her expression. "You tell me."

"Well, it hurts to move my head, and I feel like my brain was run over by a truck... Other than that, I just feel tired."

"You have some trauma to the back of your head—but no concussion, luckily—bruises on your neck, and several stitches where your throat was cut, just below your ear. You're lucky the blade didn't go any deeper, or you likely would have bled to death on the way to the hospital."

Kikyo froze in the act of feeling the rough stitches that ran beneath her jaw. "I was in the hospital? How long has it been?"

"It just happened last night," Kagome answered, averting her eyes. "Some police officer found you down the street from Yuka's house when they went to break up the party. They called an ambulance, then Dad. And he, of course, had you removed from the ER and brought here for treatment, something about the fortune he spends to keep a doctor on retainer at all times..."

"Sounds like him," Kikyo grumbled, "though I'm glad to be here in my own room."

"I told him everything."

The confession took her by surprise, mainly because Kagome had uttered it so abruptly. "What do you mean, everything?"

"I told him about the phone calls, the notes, Koga's accident... everything."

She felt a knot in the pit of her stomach. "And how did he react?"

"Not so well." The reply came not from Kagome's mouth, but from their father's. Both girls jerked their gaze to the open door and watched him wheel into the room, his own steely eyes fixed firmly on Kikyo. "Although I can understand why you would keep it from me. After all, it's not as though I have the means to protect you..."

The twins exchanged a guilty glance. "I didn't want you to worry," Kikyo answered, struggling to sit up. Kagome was at her side in a flash, repositioning pillows to make sure she was comfortable.

Her father waved a careless hand at her comment. "What's done is done," he stated, shifting his attention to a corner of the room. "The police, however, would like to get a statement from you. I'm having one of my lawyers draft one right now, stating that it was too dark for you to see your attacker. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes," said Kikyo, feeling a surge of guilt for all the trouble she was causing. "He was wearing a ski mask anyway, so it's not that far from the truth."

Her father nodded curtly. "Good. I'll have it sent to the police as soon as it's ready. With any luck, they'll stop hounding me for permission to speak with you."

Kikyo started to thank him, but she was interrupted by the sudden peal of the telephone. Tension immediately flooded through her veins, and irrational fear gripped her for a moment. Her father, though, merely motioned to Kagome, who obediently crossed the room and answered the device. Kikyo stared in fascination at her twin's conversation.

"Hello? Oh, hi Yuka. How are you? ...You have a headache? I'm sorry to hear that, though I can't say I'm surprised. It was quite the party last night... Me? I'm fine. A little tired, but otherwise none the worse for wear."

Kagome turned and winked at her sister before shifting her attention back to the phone, a serious expression alighting her features. "Are you serious? Someone was attacked last night? ...No, I didn't see anything. It must have happened after I left. Do you know who it was?"

Kikyo was openly frowning now, not understanding why her twin was bothering with such a lie. Everyone would find out anyway...

"No clue? Well, I hope it's no one we know. ...Yeah, I'll talk to you later..." Kagome quickly wrapped up the conversation and hung up the phone, affecting a cheerful face for her father and sister. "How was that?" she inquired tentatively, her eyes shifting between the two.

"Perfect," said Ryutaro Higurashi, a shrewd gleam in his eyes.

"Why did you lie?" Kikyo demanded. "People are going to find out what happened to me soon enough..."

"Actually, you're wrong," her father interrupted, the gleam intensifying. "The police are not allowed to release your name because you're still a minor, and there were no witnesses to the crime. No one has to know that you were attacked."

"Well I can't go to school covered in bruises," Kikyo countered, "and if I don't show up tomorrow, people are bound to jump to conclusions..."

"Honestly," Ryutaro shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand. "You're smarter than this, Kikyo. You should know better than to make such silly assumptions. Of course you're not going to miss any school."

She regarded him suspiciously. "I'm not going to school covered in bruises," she reaffirmed. "If nothing else, the teachers will think you're abusing me."

Her father was shaking his head still, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "Few people in this world have the luxury of an identical twin," he told his daughter. "You might think to take advantage of it once in a while."

"You mean..."

"That's right," he nodded firmly. "Kagome will go to school in your place. And no one will ever be the wiser."

Kikyo gaped for a long moment, her jaw slack as she shifted her attention between her father and her sister. "You've agreed to this?" she finally demanded of Kagome.

Her twin nodded gravely. "It's the least I can do. After all, it's my fault you're hurt."

"Kagome, it's not..."

"You wouldn't have gone to that party if it weren't for me."

"I should have been more careful. It's my own fault, not yours," Kikyo affirmed, wishing her sister would quit looking so guilty. "Really, Kagome..."

"I'll do it," Kagome interrupted firmly. "Unless you want everyone to know what's been happening to you, I have to do it." Kikyo's mind raced for some suitable response, but none came readily.

"It's settled, then," her father pronounced, breaking the ensuing silence. "Kagome will take your place."

**o.o.o.o**

**A/N:** Stupid QuickEdit ate my usual scene breaks, so I had to improvise. My computer's been having issues lately... sorry about the delay.


	7. School at Last

**Disclaimer: _Inu-Yasha_ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.**

**………**

Chapter Seven—School at Last.

**………**

Kagome stepped out of the Geo Prism, pulled Kikyo's backpack over her shoulder and looked up at the large building in front of her. Unconsciously she tried to smooth the nonexistent wrinkles from the blue tartan skirt she wore, feeling self-conscious in the school uniform.

"Here goes nothing," she breathed as she headed toward the entrance.

_"You'll be just fine,"_ Kikyo's voice said in her ear.

Her former life as a criminal had that one perk, at least. This morning when she was getting dressed, she had remembered the earpiece and microphone she had always used to communicate with Akemi on jobs. Rummaging around in her equipment, she was able to find two sets, one for her, and one for Kikyo. The earpiece tucked right inside her ear canal, invisible to all but those who knew to look for it. The tiny, sensitive microphone she had pinned just to the inside of her white collar, hoping that it would pick up both her own voice and that of people around her, so Kikyo could prompt her if needs be. Luckily the Higurashi estate was within three miles of the school, because that was the maximum distance the communicators worked. Not that Kagome had ever had the opportunity to test this aspect of the devices—she had usually been stationed near the exit of whatever building her mother was burglarizing at the time.

"Glad to hear you're with me," she said in a normal tone of voice as she hopped up the steps and into the main hallway.

_"Yeah, well, I thought I'd just leave the earpiece on while I read. School's boring enough when I'm actually there—I can't imagine what it's going to be like just hearing what happens."_

"Just try to keep me out of trouble, okay?"

_"Will do."_

"Hey, Kikyo!" a passing student called, waving a hand cheerily.

Kagome smiled brightly. "Hi!" she responded without the faintest clue who the person was. After all, when in doubt, just wing it. She had spent all of Sunday afternoon studying Kikyo's old yearbook, and hearing from her twin different stories about the people in the pictures. Now all she had to do was match last year's pictures to this year's faces; some were easier than others—she caught a glimpse of the Shichinin gang hanging out in the stairwell and pointedly did not make eye contact—but she was pretty sure that between instinct and dumb luck, she could handle this part of the charade.

She wound her way through the school hallways, mentally conjuring the rudimentary map her sister had drawn her the day before. So the pen-on-napkin was a little more primitive than the blueprints she was used to memorizing, but so far so good. She found her sister's locker without any trouble and quickly rolled out the combination.

"Hey, Kikyo! How was your break?" A fellow student with wavy black hair leaned against the lockers next to her and smiled. Kagome recognized her as one of her sister's good friends. _Here goes nothing,_ she thought inwardly, returning the smile.

"Oh, hi, Ayumi! It went pretty well, I guess, aside from Koga's car crash. You heard about that, didn't you?"

Ayumi's nodded, and her brows wiggled suggestively. "That's not all I heard about," she prompted with a sly grin.

Kagome wished she could blush like Kikyo surely would have at that moment, but it didn't happen. "Yeah, he finally asked me to be his girlfriend," she said, trying to appear a little shy.

"Finally," Ayumi grinned. Her eyes shifted to a point further down the hallway. "And speak of the devil! I'll leave you two lovebirds alone!"

Ayumi took off in the opposite direction as Kagome turned to see a broadly smiling Koga, arm still in a sling, approaching her. "Hey, babe," he said smoothly. "How about a kiss for your favorite boyfriend?"

_"Don't you dare,"_ Kikyo's voice hissed in her ear, but Kagome had already backed away from the offered embrace.

"Actually, Koga, could I take a rain check on that?" she asked apologetically, shouldering her backpack and shutting her locker. She blurted out the first excuse that came to her mind.

"Fish breath. I have total fish breath."

_"Kagome!"_

"You had fish for breakfast?" Koga inquired, giving her a skeptical glance.

"Yeah, I—uh—just woke up this morning craving protein, you know? And that's the first thing I found in the kitchen—a can of tuna. So I ate it. It really hit the spot, too." She had told the lie, so she might as well embellish it.

"Just—tuna."

Kagome smiled brightly and crinkled her nose. "Weird, huh?"

"Yeah, just a little. But I guess each to his own." The first bell rang, and Koga turned to glance down the hallway. "I guess I'll see you at lunchtime," he said reluctantly, casting her his charming half-smile. "You're not having tuna then, are you?"

"Nope. Good ol' PB&J."

"All right, then. 'Bye!"

"See ya, Koga!"

As she turned to head to her first class she heard what she imagined was a very livid Kikyo say, _"Tuna, Kagome? What were you thinking?"_

"Look, it did the trick," she snapped back, feeling a little self-conscious that she hadn't thought of a better lie. "Or would you have preferred that I kiss him instead?"

Kikyo sighed in defeat, but then said in a small voice, _"But I hate fish."_

Kagome started laughing. "Not anymore you don't!"

"Talking to yourself, Kikyo?" said a derisive voice next to her, making her jump.

She turned baleful eyes on the same boy who had called out to her at the mall a week ago, Inuyasha. The boy who had made her sister the object of a bet, who could very well be Kikyo's stalker. And was he ever good-looking.

"It beats talking to you," she said coolly, trying to keep her gaze from lingering on his face too long. He had beautiful eyes–a dusky violet color. And while most guys looked a little on the stuffy side in their uniforms, he actually made his look good.

"Likewise," he shot back with a sneer.

Averting her attention from him, back to the hallway, she unconsciously sped up to get away from him. Unfortunately, they had the same first period, English. Kagome took her seat at the front of the class while Inuyasha headed to the back to sit between Sango and Miroku. Kagome recognized them for who they were now, thanks to Kikyo's yearbook.

Somehow she made it through the hour, following the discussion as best she could despite the fact that she hadn't read a word of _Wuthering Heights_. The only moment of panic came when Mr. Seikai abruptly asked her a question about the novel's different frames. Kagome hesitated while Kikyo fed the answer into her ear. She automatically repeated what her sister had just told her, and luckily for her, the teacher accepted her response without asking for any further explanation.

"Thanks," Kagome whispered, head bent toward the hidden microphone.

_"My pleasure. I'd hate for you to mess up my grades, you know."_

Her next period, Calculus, was much harder. Kagome handed in Kikyo's homework and opened the book to the day's lesson, but she could only stare at the page in obvious confusion. When she was studying for her GED she had only learned algebra and geometry. And though many of the terms on the page in front of her seemed familiar, the way they were being used was completely foreign to her.

"Do we have a volunteer for the next problem on the board?" the math teacher, Mr. Takeda, inquired of the class, and Kagome instinctively hunched down in her seat, praying he wouldn't call on her.

Fate must have hated her.

"Kikyo, would you like to show everyone how this one's done?"

She sat up and swallowed, then said apologetically, "I can't, Mr. Takeda. I don't think I quite understand it myself."

The teacher's brows shot up in surprise, as did those of most everyone in the class. Kikyo was a math whiz, and she didn't understand?

"Okay," he recovered quickly enough. "Someone else, then. Sango?"

The athletic teen stood up from the back of the class and headed to the blackboard, casting a frown in Kagome's direction on the way. Kagome half-wondered how many classes she had with Sango, Inuyasha, and Miroku. She hadn't bothered to ask Kikyo anything along those lines. She knew she didn't have any with Koga—he and Kikyo had met through a couple of extracurriculars they shared. Kikyo was an honors student, while Koga just followed a regular track of classes.

Speaking of Koga…

"Hey, Kikyo," Kagome muttered as she traversed to her third period, Government, "What do I do if your boyfriend wants to cash in his rain check at lunch?"

_"Huh? What are you talking about?"_

"What do I do if he tries to kiss me? I don't think he'll accept the tuna excuse again."

She was met with silence. Then, _"I guess you'll have to kiss him."_ Kikyo spoke in a flat monotone, obviously displeased with the idea.

"I don't want to kiss him," Kagome retorted. "I don't want to have to say for the rest of my life that my first kiss was with my sister's boyfriend. It sounds trampy."

Silence, again.

"Well?"

_"You've never kissed a guy before?"_

An exasperated sigh escaped Kagome's lips. "I thought I explained my vagabond lifestyle to you. I never stayed long enough in one place to put down any roots, remember?"

_"Well, yeah. I just didn't think about that aspect, I guess. Well…"_ She thought for a moment before finally suggesting, _"I guess you could always just not go to lunch or something. Although it would be really unlike me to intentionally avoid Koga._"

"I could try to get a lunch detention!" Kagome suddenly realized with more excitement than one might expect at such a prospect.

_"Don't you dare! That's _my_ school record you're talking about there!"_

She didn't reply, having entered the classroom and not wanting to be caught talking to herself. As she took her seat, again at the front of the classroom, Kagome had the sudden urge to curse Kikyo for being such a nerd. She would have killed for one of those back-row seats. As it was, she felt nervous with all of these people behind her.

Casting a quick glance around the room, she noted that Inuyasha and company were not present in this class. She did, however, recognize some of the others. Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka, Kikyo's three best friends, were sitting all around her, and she smiled at them pleasantly. She also recognized Suikotsu of Shichinin fame, as well as a sandy-haired boy a couple of seats back... what was his name again? Ah, yes, Hojo, the boy Eri had a crush on.

He looked up and met her eyes. She shot him a friendly smile and small wave, which he feebly returned, apparently a little confused at being so singled out for her attention.

_Oops_, she thought as she turned back to face the front of the class. _Maybe he's just a nodding acquaintance._ It was hard to tell the difference. Aside from her three best friends, her boyfriend, and her three enemies, Kikyo hadn't really given a lot of information about any of her classmates or how Kagome was supposed to act toward them.

Fourth period finally rolled around, and Kagome was again faced with another subject she knew nothing about—Physics. Luckily for her, though, this class was mostly about plugging numbers into preset formulas. That she could deal with, even if the formulas didn't always make sense to her. She took faithful notes, a faint understanding blooming in her mind as she went. Maybe when she went to college she'd take a physics class, see what it was all about, she decided.

As she stashed her books away in her locker at the beginning of lunch, Koga came to find her. Kagome had figured out a way to stall him on the whole kissing thing—at least she hoped she had.

"Hey!" she beamed at him wrapping her arms around him in a quick hug and pecking him on the cheek. His hold around her waist tightened, but she put a finger to his lips and moved out of his embrace, saying, "Not here. There are too many people around."

A confused expression crossed his face. "You didn't have a problem with public affection a week ago," he replied.

"But that was before someone cut the brake line in your car," Kagome answered, making a show of suspiciously peering at passersby. "I just…"

Her "boyfriend" was frowning. "You're really letting this guy get to you?"

"Koga, you could have been killed," she answered, concern written on her face. That much she didn't have to pretend, at least.

He sighed, a muscle along his jaw tightening. "I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

"But I do. Listen, can we talk this over in the lunchroom? I've got to go to the loo, but I'll be right back."

"To the what?" he asked in confusion.

Kagome mentally cursed. She may be talking with an American accent, but that didn't stop a bit of international slang from creeping into her vocabulary. "The girl's room," she explained. "I'll hurry back, I promise."

He nodded, seeming a bit too somber. "I left my notebook back in English, so I have to go get it anyway. I'll meet you at our usual table."

"Okay." She smiled and turned toward the nearest restroom, wondering how long she could hang out in there before he came to look for her. She had the sneaking suspicion that this kissing issue could end up wrecking her sister's relationship.

Great.

"I can't avoid him forever, can I?" she asked out loud once inside the empty girl's bathroom, hoping Kikyo was still listening.

_"Highly doubtful."_

"Maybe you should just break up with him until you're better."

Kikyo didn't seem to like this idea. _"If you dump him, he probably wouldn't take me back. Besides, I don't want him to get hurt."_

"Earth to Kikyo! He's already on your stalker's hit list. Why can't he be rational about this?"

_"Maybe we're the ones that are being too paranoid."_

Kagome was about to respond when the door to the bathroom swung open. She quickly shut her mouth and turned on the sink, as though she was just washing her hands. Much to her annoyance, the intruder was none other than Sango Taijiya, who halted upon seeing her. She recovered quickly enough, standing at the sink next to Kagome's to wash her own hands.

"You cut your hair," Sango observed after a long moment of silence, watching Kagome's reflection in the mirror.

It was an abrupt statement, and Kagome instinctively reached up to feel the ebony locks pulled back in a ponytail. No one else had said anything about the difference in length, though she knew her hair was several inches shorter than her sister's. Kikyo's hair was all the way to her waist. "Yeah," she said coolly, retrieving some paper towels to dry off her hands. "Over the break. It's a little easier to manage now."

Sango nodded and reached for her own paper towels contemplatively. She looked as though she might say something more, but Kagome snatched up her backpack and said with a note of finality, "See you around."

She didn't hear the girl's response, but made her way out of the bathroom and to the cafeteria. Standing in the doorway, she looked around for Koga. "Where's your usual table?" she asked Kikyo in an undertone.

_"Northwest corner, by the window. You should see Ayumi, Yuka, and Eri there next to Koga."_

Kagome turned in the right direction. "I see your three friends, but Koga's not there. Maybe he's getting some food." She headed in that direction, greeting her sister's friends as she approached. "Have you guys seen Koga?" she inquired as she sat down.

"He hasn't been here," Ayumi replied, shooting her a sly smile similar to the one she had worn that morning, "but we'll definitely warn you before he gets here."

Kagome thanked her, feeling a tinge of blush on her cheeks. _At last,_ she thought. _Kikyo turns cherry red every time his name is mentioned._ She pulled out her lunch, looking around expectantly.

But Koga never showed.

With ten minutes left until fifth period, she threw away the remains of her sack lunch and headed back to her locker to collect her French text and workbook. She saw the note the minute she opened the locker door.

_You should have left wolf-boy alone, for his own good._

Profanity escaped her lips as she looked around the empty hallway. She snatched her two books and slammed the locker closed.

_"Kagome, what's wrong?"_ Kikyo's voice sounded apprehensive, as if she feared to hear the answer.

"Something's happened to Koga," Kagome answered as she barreled down the hallway toward the front of the school. She could hear sirens coming from that direction—had been hearing them for a few minutes now, but just hadn't registered it—and her stomach suddenly tied itself in several knots.

A small crowd of students had gathered in the entryway as two paramedics wheeled a gurney containing a battered figure out of one of the English classrooms.

"What happened?" Kagome breathlessly demanded of an underclassman who was goggling the whole thing.

"Someone beat the crap out of Koga Ookami," the pimply youth replied almost gleefully. Kagome wanted to hit him, especially when she heard an anguished cry in her earpiece. She tried to press through the crowd to get closer, but a teacher had appeared out of nowhere.

"Get to your next period, everyone. Now!"

There was no arguing with that tone of voice. "He'll be okay, Kikyo," Kagome found herself reassuring her sister as she made her way to her French class. "They're taking him to the hospital. He'll be okay."

She didn't know that for sure. He was still alive, or he would have been covered with a sheet, that much she had figured out. What confused her was that Koga didn't exactly come across as the defenseless type, even with his arm in a sling. He must have been taken by surprise when he went to retrieve his notebook.

She had no choice but to go to Kikyo's French class. Here, at least, she got some respite. Kikyo didn't like French, so she sat in the back of the classroom rather than the front row. "There's no way you can mess up my grade in there," she had told Kagome that morning. "It's my worst subject, but the school requires three years of a foreign language to graduate. I should have taken Spanish like Koga."

Kagome sat miserable in the back row, hardly paying attention as the teacher, Madame Millepatte, discussed the "Maison d'Etre" verbs, in fluent French. The entire class was conducted in French, because it supposedly helped students grasp the language faster if they had to use it at all times.

"Kikyo," Madame Millepatte said in irritation ten minutes into the lesson, wondering why she bothered with such an obviously hopeless student, "fait attention, s'il te plait."

Kagome sat up at the rebuke as the entire class turned their attention on her. She noted Kikyo's three least favorite people among them—Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango all staring at her from two rows over with a glint of mocking in their eyes. She felt properly intimidated.

"D-desolé, madame," she stammered apologetically to the teacher. "Mon ami est dans l'hôpital, et je me suis inquieté pour lui. Je vais faire attention à partir de maintenant."

The entire class—teacher included—stared at her with mouths hanging open.

Crickets chirped in the background.

"Est-ce que je me suis trompé?" she inquired uncertainly.

Madame Millepatte recovered herself with a shake of her head. "Non, Kikyo. Tu as bien fait. Très bien." Feeling as though the entire world had just turned upside-down, she could do nothing but return to her lesson.

"Hey Kikyo, since when could you speak French?" Inuyasha hissed around the student that sat in between them.

"And would you consider helping me with _my_ French?" Miroku added, waggling his eyebrows suggestively and receiving a whack on the head from Sango as a result.

Kagome shot them all a dirty look before returning her attention to the blackboard drawing of the "Maison d'Etre." She was kind of glad that Kikyo herself didn't add any comments to the conversation at this point and correctly assumed that her sister had abandoned her to discover what had become of Koga.

One more class to go before her first day of school was over.

**………**

"We're combining the boys' and girls' P.E. classes today," Coach Urasue announced when the girls had all dressed out. Kagome was indifferent, but a murmur of mingled protests and hurrahs rippled through the line of girls. "Coach Totosai has the flu and couldn't find a substitute, so I told him I'd take care of it," the butch instructor added. "Now head out to the track and start your laps while I go fetch the boys."

Kagome took off with the rest of the girls, settling into an easy run at the head of the pack. The others eventually lagged their pace, and she would have done the same, except she kept seeing Sango out of the corner of her eye, trying to pass her. Kagome gritted her teeth and sped up every time, effortlessly lapping a few of the slower girls. Akemi had been a runner, and by default so had she. She could remember her mother telling her, "You never know when being able to run that extra fifty feet will save your life."

By the time the coach had gathered the boys together and called the girls over from the track, Sango was in a foul mood. She sidled up to Miroku and Inuyasha with a scowl on her face.

"What's with you?" Inuyasha inquired bluntly.

"Something's up with Kikyo," Sango answered, glancing over at their topic of conversation, who stood not too far away listening to the coach's instructions on the partner's stretches they would be doing. "She doesn't understand math, speaks French, and now suddenly can run three laps without being winded. She's never been able to stay ahead of me before today."

"Maybe she got tired of being a slow poke and took up running over the break," Inuyasha suggested with a snort.

"And studied her French extra hard?" the athletic girl retorted with a snort of her own.

Miroku looked pensive. "Sango, what exactly are you suggesting? That _is_ Kikyo, there's no doubt of that."

"I don't know what I'm saying. There's just something different about her. She's giving out an entirely different vibe today than usual."

"Well," her perverted friend sighed, "I suppose there _is_ one way to find out." To the surprise of both Sango and Inuyasha, he strolled away from them, toward where Kikyo was standing.

"What, is he just going to ask her?" Sango said incredulously.

**………**

Kagome was listening intently to Coach Urasue's detailed instructions on the partner stretches they were going to perform that day. Most every one else was ignoring the P.E. instructor, wrapped in their own little conversations throughout the crowd. Kagome, however, didn't have anyone to talk to, and didn't feel like making polite chitchat with any of the groups in her general vicinity. She watched as Coach Urasue demonstrated a spread-leg forward bend, with the help of an unfortunate and completely non-flexible junior who had been chosen at random from the combined classes. From the pained look on the girl's face, Kagome guessed that the coach had just succeeded in helping her tear a few muscles in her inner thighs.

She heard some shuffling behind her, like people were moving out of the way, but she didn't bother to turn and examine what was going on.

That was when she felt the hand caressing her butt.

Whirling, she came face to face with Miroku, who smiled back at her innocuously. "You—you PERVERT!" she cried, then instantaneously balled her hand into a fist and slugged him squarely on the jaw. Miroku flew backward, students jumping out of the way so that he could skid across the ground.

"Keep your hands to yourself, you disgusting lecher!" Kagome shouted, still seething with rage.

The disruption had caused Coach Urasue to abandon her now-crying volunteer, coming to stand behind Kagome with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

"What seems to be the problem, Higurashi?" she demanded in a gruff voice.

"That perv just grabbed my butt!" Kagome retorted, leveling an accusing finger at the still prostrate Miroku.

The coach looked at the offending boy, then consulted her clipboard. "You must be Houshi," she grunted finally. "Coach Totosai left a note here that says to keep you separated from the girls. I guess I'll have to partner you with one of your fellow men for these stretches."

Miroku's eyes widened in horror and his jaw dropped as though he had just been dealt a deathblow.

"You," Coach Urasue continued, pointing randomly at none other than Jakotsu, who was milling around with the rest of the onlookers and suddenly got a very starry look in his eyes, "you'll be Houshi's partner for the rest of the hour." Then, she broke into a loud bark, "All right, people! I think we've had enough demonstration! Now pair off and stretch! Flexibility is an essential component to maintaining a healthy, athletic body! Push yourselves!"

"Something is definitely different about Kikyo," Miroku pronounced at the end of the hour as he trudged back toward the locker rooms with Sango and Inuyasha. "She's a lot stronger than she used to be—she's never been able to hit that hard before." He rubbed his bruised jaw thinking back ruefully on the past hour. He had spent the entire period refusing to let his partner touch him—everyone knew about Jakotsu's sexual preferences, not that Miroku would have allowed even a straight guy to help him stretch—so he had just done nothing but watch everyone else while ignoring Jakotsu's pouting protests.

"You got what you deserved, ya perv," Sango said flatly.

"If it weren't for that being-partnered-with-a-guy bit I'd say it was well worth the sacrifice. Kikyo's butt's a lot firmer than I remember. It was almost as nice as yours, my dear Sango. Almost," he added with a wistful sigh, just before Sango whacked him in the back of his head.

"Feh. I don't see what you two are getting so worked up about," Inuyasha spoke for the first time as he paused, waiting for Miroku to get back up off the ground. "So Kikyo's started exercising. So what? That doesn't change the fact that she's an uber-b—"

"Watch it," Sango interrupted as she spied the object of their conversation nearing them.

"What do I care if she hears me," Inuyasha snorted, though he refrained from finishing his thought. They all watched "Kikyo" pass them and head into the girl's locker room. She turned briefly at the door and glared at them, but nothing further.

"Yeah, same old Kikyo," Miroku intoned, picking himself up off the ground. "No one can give a death-glare quite like her."

**………**

Kagome was exhausted when she got home from school. Just as she had suspected, Kikyo wasn't there, probably off tracking down Koga. One of their father's many cars was missing from the garage—Kagome couldn't quite understand why he had so many of them when he couldn't drive, but Kikyo had said it was just one of his fetishes—and there were signs of a hurried departure in Kikyo's bedroom.

She flopped down on her bed, rolling over onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. She had replaced her earpiece and microphone in their little black box, and now wondered what she was going to do for the rest of the afternoon. She had a mountain of homework to do—_Kikyo_ had a mountain of homework to do, she mentally corrected herself. She was more than happy to let her sister do it, for the most part. Physics had intrigued her a little, and she knew she would have enjoyed her French class if she hadn't been so preoccupied with worrying about Koga. Part of her wanted to do the assignments for those classes, just for the fun of it.

Kagome hadn't been assigned schoolwork in years.

She reached over to the bag she had dropped at the foot of the bed, extracting the heavy Physics textbook and leafing through it. She would definitely have to take a Physics course when she got to college. If she got to college, she mentally noted. That was by no means a sure thing at this point.

An hour later, she had struggled through her Physics homework and breezed through the French. She had even started trying to make sense of Kikyo's Trig assignment, though she had every intention of making her sister do all of her own work. She had decided that it was only logical for both of them to complete the assigned homework, since Kikyo would have to return to school eventually and Kagome needed to know what was going on as long as the charade lasted. Even after reviewing some earlier chapters of the math book, however, she still didn't understand the assigned problems.

Then again, math had never really been her strong point. It tended to be too abstract.

Off in the distance, the front door opened and shut, signaling someone's arrival. Kagome hefted herself off her bed, figuring her sister had at last come home.

"Kikyo?" she called tentatively, stepping down the hallway toward the entry. As she neared the banister, a chill ran down her spine when no response came. Peering down to the tiled floor below, she saw no signs of anyone.

"Kikyo?" she faltered again, her heart pounding erratically against her rib cage.

A muffled sound to her left caused her to whirl, her body taut with anxiety, only to behold her sister, halfway up the stairway and slumped against the wall, quietly crying. Kagome let out the lung full of air she had been unconsciously holding. "Kikyo," she breathed, stepping forward.

She was at her sister's side in no time, gathering her up in her arms and willing herself not to break down into tears as well. Her heart ached to see the normally stoic Kikyo in such obvious grief.

"You found where they took Koga," she stated rather than asked, receiving a nod in response. "Is he…?" She couldn't bring herself to finish the statement. There was no way he was all right, but he couldn't possibly have died, could he?

A sob wrenched itself out of Kikyo's throat as she cried on her twin's shoulder. "H-he'll be okay," she managed to stammer. "H-he was awake when I got there. But he was so… so battered…" her voice trailed off into a heart-wrenching moan. "It's all my fault, Kagome," she cried. "All my fault."

"Shh," her sister soothed, holding her closer and smoothing her hair with one hand. "It's not your fault. You didn't ask for this, and you had no way of knowing something like this would happen, especially not at school." Inwardly, she felt her own nerves turn to steel, her hatred for the creep who had done this welling up and nearly consuming her. "Did Koga see the guy?" she found herself asking.

Kikyo shook her head against Kagome's shoulder, gradually regaining control of her senses. "He was hit from behind, and he doesn't remember anything else. He had gone back to his English class to pick up his notebook, and when he stepped through the door... his face is all bruised and bloody—he had to have thirty-seven stitches for the cut on the back of his head and another one on his forehead. Cracked ribs, probably a concussion. And his left leg is broken. He might need to have a rod put in it."

"Ouch," Kagome winced. She couldn't help herself from adding, "I'll bet you two made quite the couple with all your injuries."

Her sister pulled back and regarded her balefully, allowing Kagome to see for the first time that she had covered the bruises on her neck with a thick concealer, making them appear to be little more than shadows, barely noticeable.

"That's nice," she admired, inspecting Kikyo's handiwork. "Why is it I'm going to school for you again?"

"Because this one's a little harder to hide," Kikyo answered, pushing her hair behind one ear to reveal the long, ugly gash inflicted by her attacker's knife. The angry red scab beneath black stitches stood out like paint on her porcelain skin.

Kagome's jaw involuntarily clenched, her silent outrage more than apparent.

"It hasn't hurt as much today," her sister said wanly, noting her change in demeanor.

She nodded curtly then rose to her feet, pulling Kikyo up with her. "You should get some more rest," she found herself saying as she led her twin up the remainder of the stairs. "Do you want me to get you something to eat? Some soup, or a sandwich?"

"No, I'm fine," came Kikyo's weary reply.

"A cup of tea, then? There's a nice assortment of them hidden away in one of the corner cupboards—I'm sure Cook would never miss one tea bag."

Surprisingly, Kikyo nodded. "Tea sounds nice," she stated. "But you should just ring the bell and have Mayu bring it. You don't need to go make it yourself."

Kagome nodded, herding Kikyo into her room and back into bed. After she had summoned the maid and dispatched her errand, she came to sit on the edge of the mattress, regarding her twin with a somber look. "Was Koga surprised to see you at the hospital?" she asked after a long moment of silence.

Kikyo nodded, a ghost of a smile curving the corners of her lips. "He thought I ditched school for him," she said. "It didn't even faze him that I wasn't wearing my uniform. Of course, he had his mind on other things to bother with noticing something so trivial."

"Of course."

"So how was school?" Kikyo inquired politely, apparently wishing to change the subject.

"Aside from the trauma of having my pseudo-boyfriend carted off to the hospital? It wasn't so bad." She proceeded to give an account of the day, most of which Kikyo already knew, thanks to the earpiece and microphone. It didn't matter, though, since her twin just wanted her to talk, to drown out the weight of these past few days with inane chatter. Kagome sensed Kikyo's need for frivolous conversation and dragged out her experiences as much as possible, adding her own light-hearted commentary to the events of the day. Mayu came and went, leaving behind the aromatic tea, and by the time Kagome completed her recap, they had already finished the pot.

"You sound like you enjoyed it," Kikyo observed.

"I did," her sister admitted, then added in a teasing voice, "but that doesn't mean I'm going to finish out the school year for you." This earned her a feeble smile in response, which fell with Kagome's next words.

"You have a ton of homework, by the way."

**………**

"_Wuthering Heights_ is one of the greatest romance novels of all time," Mr. Seikai said, adding wryly, "which, considering all the supermarket bodice-rippers out there, doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment." A few of the more sycophantic students chuckled appreciatively, while most of them just stared back at him with catatonic expressions fixed on their faces. It was your average high school English class.

"Anyway," the teacher continued, pacing back and forth along the front row of desks, "it really is a remarkable book, considering the sheltered background Emily Brontë comes from. With no real schooling and a painfully shy temperament…"

He continued to drone on about the English authoress, but Kagome was only half-listening. She had started the book last night, but as yet she wasn't all that impressed with it. At least, not to the point of wetting herself over it like her teacher seemed about to do. Maybe it got better further on, she reflected as she doodled in one corner of Kikyo's notebook.

She didn't have the microphone and earpiece today, since Kikyo had talked about going to visit Koga during school hours. They knew that her stalker was at school, after all, and she could just tell her bed-ridden boyfriend that she had ditched again to come see him. So Kagome was on her own.

"That said," Mr. Seikai was concluding, "our final project with this fascinating piece of literature is going to be done in pairs." Kagome's eyes jerked up in ill-concealed discomfort—she couldn't exactly have Kikyo do her own work if it involved a partner. Besides, she didn't know anyone here, even if Kikyo did, and she wasn't sure about just randomly asking someone to work with her. The teacher, though, crossed to his desk and picked up a stack of papers, which he immediately began passing out to the students.

"I've taken the liberty of putting you all in partnerships," he said, and Kagome breathed a covert sigh of relief. One obstacle down, at least. "You'll find your names bracketed with your partner's here on this sheet. You might also observe that I didn't go to too much trouble in pairing you off."

Sure enough, the sheet of paper was just a copy of the roll, with all of the students listed alphabetically and paired off accordingly. Kagome passed the stack of copies to the person sitting behind her before scanning the page for her own name, or rather, Kikyo's.

A scowl marred her pretty face as she found it, halfway down the column and bracketed with the one following.

_Houshi, Miroku._

Mr. Seikai had already launched into a description of the project, but that didn't stop Kagome from immediately raising her hand. "Question, Miss Higurashi?" he acknowledged her, a little taken back that she would interrupt his instructions.

"You have me partnered with Miroku," she stated flatly, her gaze still resting on the list in front of her.

"Yes, is there a problem with that?"

Kagome's cool expression lifted to meet that of her teacher, and everyone in the class held their breath to see what she would say. "Yeah," she stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "The guy's a complete pervert. No girl should ever have to work alone with him."

"Now, Kikyo," Mr. Seikai started amid the sniggers of his class and a wounded protest from the back, unmistakably Miroku himself, "I'm sure that Mr. Houshi will behave like a perfect gentleman…"

"He groped my butt yesterday in PE," she interrupted mutinously. "I'm not working with him." She knew it was terrible of her to make such public accusations, but it was the only way she could think of to escape from this problem with the partnership. Surely Mr. Seikai would allow her to work on her own now, which would let her sister do the assignment at home. After all, he couldn't keep her partnered with someone who had sexually harassed her, could he?

Her teacher, though, had other ideas. "Perhaps you're right," he conceded, earning him another protest from Miroku, which he ignored. "So we'll just make yours into a group of four. Would another partnership please volunteer to join with Mr. Houshi and Miss Higurashi? Ah, thank you, Mr. Taisho. Is that satisfactory, Miss Higurashi?"

Kagome's eyes immediately scanned further down the page to find _Taisho, Inuyasha_ bracketed with none other than _Taijiya, Sango_. Swiveling around, she found that all three of her newly formed group members were glaring daggers at her.

"S-sure," she faltered, turning back to the front with a suddenly pale face and a deer-in-the-headlights expression. "That's great."

What had she gotten herself into this time?

**………**

**A/N:** For those who speak no French, the translation for the dialogue between Kagome and Madame Millepatte (Mistress Centipede, haha) is as follows:

"Kikyo, fait attention, s'il te plait." (Kikyo, pay attention, please.)

"D-desolé, madame. Mon ami est dans l'hôpital, et je me suis inquieté pour lui. Je vais faire attention à partir de maintenant." (I'm sorry, Ma'am. My friend is in the hospital, and I'm worried about him. I'll pay attention from now on.)

"Est-ce que je me suis trompé?" (Did I make a mistake?)

"Non, Kikyo. Tu as bien fait. Très bien." (No, Kikyo. You've done well. Very well.)


	8. Calm Before the Storm

**Disclaimer: _InuYasha_ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.**

* * *

Chapter Eight—Calm Before the Storm

* * *

"You think she'll show up?"

"Of course she'll show up. There's a grade involved. I mean, this _is_ Kikyo we're talking about. She's completely anal when it comes to stuff like this."

"She's late. That's not like her at all."

"Just chart it down to the new and improved Kikyo."

"Keh."

Sango and Miroku turned their attention to Inuyasha, who had interrupted their conversation with that last comment. They were assembled together at the public library, where they had agreed to meet that afternoon, and Kikyo was already ten minutes late. "You know, Inuyasha," Sango stated reluctantly, "you're going to have to try to be at least civil to her. This project is a major part of our final grade."

"Keh," he said again, folding his arms across his chest with a derisive snort and tipping his chair back on two legs. "She's the one that should try being civil. Or have you forgotten how the four of us ended up in one group in the first place?"

Miroku smirked and shrugged nonchalantly. "I've been called worse," he said smoothly. "Besides, it means we all get to work together, so I'm not complaining about her little protest."

"And it's not like her accusations were unfounded," Sango pointed out and received two very flat looks as a result. "What?" she said defensively. "Miroku _is_ a pervert. I probably would have protested if I had been paired with him."

"Sango!" the pervert complained in an injured voice.

"That's not the point," Inuyasha replied, sitting forward and resting his arms on the table. "We all know Miroku's a pervert—"

"Hey!"

"—but what she did was uncalled for," he finished seamlessly. "She should have just sucked it up and worked with him. Now all of us have to suffer."

"_Hey!_" Miroku cried again, outrage evident in both voice and expression.

Inuyasha looked quizzically over at him before realizing what he had just said. "I meant now we all have to suffer working with _her_, not you," he clarified. "Before her little outburst you were the only one that was going to have to put up with her. Now we all do."

Miroku humphed, then added grudgingly, "Like I said, I'm not complaining."

"Where the hell is Kikyo anyway?" Inuyasha demanded, glancing around the study area to see if he could spot any signs of her.

Another five minutes passed before she finally appeared, walking swiftly across the study area. Her hair was pulled up in the same type of spiky bun they had seen her sport at the mall over spring break, and her backpack was slung carelessly over one shoulder. The skirt she was wearing was about five inches shorter than anything any of them had seen Kikyo wear before, revealing her long, shapely legs. The expression on her face, though, they definitely recognized.

She wasn't happy to be here.

With a heavy sigh she plopped her bag down on the table and took the only remaining chair, next to Sango and across from Inuyasha.

"Where the hell have you been, wench?" he demanded, glaring at her angrily. "You're fifteen minutes late."

She mutely removed her binder and notebook from her backpack as though she hadn't heard him.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, wench," Inuyasha snarled.

Kagome looked up, leveling him an icy glare. "My name is not 'wench,'" she stated in acidic tones, inwardly reflecting that it wasn't Kikyo either, "and I have no intention of answering to that particular epithet."

"Epi-what?" he asked, confused.

She rolled her eyes and opened up the book to where Kikyo's notes on _Wuthering Heights_ were located. "So what's the plan?" she inquired flatly, turning her attention to Miroku and Sango.

"The plan is you tell us why the hell you just wasted all of our time by showing up so late," Inuyasha answered before either of them had a chance to respond.

Kagome sighed again and put one hand to her forehead, feeling suddenly very tired. It was hard work keeping up all of these defensive walls, she reflected, wondering how Kikyo managed it. "Look," she stated in a wan voice, "I'm sorry I'm so late. I stayed too long at the hospital with Koga, all right? And then I still had to run home and get my notes and everything." It was partially true—Kikyo had been at the hospital when she got home from school, and Kagome had waited for her to return so she could go over the project with her before setting out to meet her group.

Inuyasha sat back in his chair, silent. He couldn't exactly make fun of Koga for being brutally assaulted in school, nor could he fault Kikyo for visiting the sick. He didn't even feel a derisive "keh" would be appropriate.

"How's Koga doing?" Sango inquired tentatively, suddenly feeling a little empathy for the girl sitting next to her.

Kagome looked up from her scribbled notes and favored Sango with a small smile. "He's doing a lot better. They've got his left leg in a cast now, but the break wasn't as bad as they initially thought, so he didn't have to get a rod put in it. That's good news, at least. In fact, there's a chance he could be released as early as this weekend, if he promises not to be too active. He'll probably miss another week of school after that, though."

"Do they have any idea who did it to him?" Miroku inquired, his brows knit together in a serious frown.

She averted her eyes and shook her head, picking up her pencil and doodling in the margin of her notes. "No. He didn't see whoever it was, and there were too many fingerprints in the classroom to pinpoint one person. They still don't even know what he was hit over the head with."

"This is getting creepy," Sango commented, one elbow propped on the table and her chin resting in that hand. "Koga gets attacked at school, and one of our classmates was assaulted over spring break…"

Kagome's head jerked up and she stared wide-eyed at the girl next to her.

"What's this?" Miroku inquired in confusion.

"It was in the paper last Sunday," Sango explained. "A Goshinboku High School senior was attacked by an unknown assailant late last Saturday night—after Yuka's party, I think—and ended up in the hospital. The paper couldn't release the girl's name, because she's still a minor, but they said that her attacker held her at knife point and tried to strangle her."

"So who was it?" Miroku demanded, to which Sango rolled her eyes.

"I told you, the paper couldn't release her name."

"But she goes to our school," he pointed out. "She could be in some of our classes. Do we know anyone that's been absent the last couple of days?"

"You know," Kagome spoke up with a touch of acid in her voice, "the whole reason the papers aren't allowed to release the girl's name is to keep the people around her from knowing what happened to her, to give her some privacy. Shouldn't you try to respect that?"

They all stared at her for a long moment, surprise and chagrin mixed in their expressions, before Inuyasha broke the silence with, "What, was it your best friend or something?"

Kagome shot him a withering glare and snatched up her copy of _Wuthering Heights_. "What are we going to do about this project?" she abruptly changed the subject, willing herself not to reveal how close to the mark he had just hit. "Preferably divide and conquer?"

"Mr. Seikai wrote the project guidelines so that that's basically impossible to do," Miroku answered, picking up the teacher's list of instructions. "He doesn't want it to be one person doing all the work."

Kagome swiped the list from him, frowning deeply as she scanned over its contents.

"Didn't you read that when he passed it out this morning?" Inuyasha inquired, crossing his arms over his chest and tipping back in his chair once more.

"Are you kidding? I haven't even finished reading the stupid book yet."

Her admission apparently took them all by surprise, since Sango and Miroku openly gaped while Inuyasha had to catch himself from falling over. Kagome noticed their shock and added defensively, "I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"So you expect us to pick up the slack for you, wench?" Inuyasha irately demanded.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Don't get your panties in a bunch," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'll finish it." Inuyasha bristled while Sango and Miroku continued to stare at her incredulously. "What?" she asked warily.

Sango's delicate eyebrows furrowed. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Kikyo?" she inquired, to which Kagome paled.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, trying to keep her voice completely level.

"You've always been kind of uptight about school work, Kikyo," Miroku pointed out.

Kagome settled back in her chair, adopting the calm expression her twin habitually wore. "Maybe I finally figured out there are more important things to be uptight about," she suggested logically. "I mean, some mystery man tried to kill my boyfriend. That's a little more anxiety-inducing than unfinished homework."

"Yeah," said Sango perceptively, "but you should have finished the book over Spring Break, and that was before Koga ever got into trouble."

She decided not to mention his car accident, instead frowning thoughtfully. "Let's put it this way," she suggested. "It's our senior year. We're six weeks from graduating. Is my future life as an adult really going to be ruined if I never finish reading _Wuthering Heights_? I don't think so. But don't worry," she added with a small half-smile. "I'll pull my own weight for this project."

"And what a lot of weight it is," Inuyasha couldn't stop himself from adding rudely.

Her eyes jerked up in surprise, but rather than get angry, she just frowned before returning her attention to the project notes. "Look, Inuyasha," she said in a bored tone of voice, "I know you and I hate each other and everything, but do you think that maybe for the duration of this project we can call a truce on these petty insults? You know—you stop calling me 'wench' and I'll stop referring to you as 'that narcissistic bed-wetter.' How about it? Or," she added, catching sight of his death-glare, "we can continue to act like bickering children and never get anything accomplished, leaving Sango and Miroku to do all the work. Which will it be?"

Her dark, steady eyes locked with his until he finally looked away.

"Keh," he pronounced, which Kagome took as meaning, "Fine."

"Great," she stated brightly. "Now, shall we get to work?"

An hour later, they had completed the first major part of the project and set up another meeting for tomorrow, same time, same place.

"All right, then," said "Kikyo" as she shoved her notebooks back into her backpack. "I'll see you all tomorrow, then." She flashed them a bright smile before heading out of the library, leaving behind three very stunned enemies.

"Well, that was…" Sango started inadequately, gazing at the girl's retreating person.

"…surreal," Miroku finished for her. "And surprisingly less painful than anticipated."

Inuyasha just snorted, landing his chair back down on all four legs.

………

"We have a problem," Kikyo said the moment she walked in the door.

Kagome stopped short, her eyes wide. "What's wrong?" she asked, sudden concern welling up within her as her mind raced over the possibilities.

"Jinenji's mother had a heart attack."

Her face took on a blank expression. "Who's Jinenji?"

Kikyo's lips pursed together in a thin, straight line. "Dad's chauffeur."

"Dad never goes anywhere," Kagome pointed out in confusion. "He does all his work via network from his office upstairs. Why does he even have a chauffeur?"

"So he has someone to drive him to the airport when he has to take a business trip. Like tomorrow. But Jinenji won't be here to drive him."

"Wait," Kagome interrupted, holding up one finger in a perplexed gesture. "Dad's going on a business trip tomorrow?"

Kikyo huffed and rolled her eyes. "He just told me an hour ago. Crazy old man seems to think that if he lets anyone in on his plans too far in advance, someone might try to assassinate him."

"So," her twin started, still trying to get a grasp on the situation at hand, "What exactly is the problem? He needs to get to the airport, and he doesn't have a chauffeur? That's it?

Kikyo tossed a lock of hair over one shoulder and further explained, "When Dad doesn't have a chauffeur, he makes me, or in this case you, drive him around. He won't call a cab, because he doesn't trust strangers. _That_ is the problem."

Kagome slid her backpack from her shoulder and scrunched her nose thoughtfully. "Couldn't one of the other servants act as chauffeur until Jinenji gets back?"

She shook her head slowly, a knowing look in her eyes. "Each servant has a job description, and Dad won't have any of them do anything beyond that, because he doesn't want to hazard them demanding extra pay."

"Cheap wad," her twin muttered, and she couldn't help but agree.

"He has to be at the airport at five o'clock tomorrow night," she offered.

"That's the same time I have to be at the library for that group project," said Kagome with a frown. "I guess you get to drive him."

But Kikyo shook her head. "You're coming too."

"Kikyo, I just told you—"

"He already talked to me about it," her twin interrupted apologetically. "He wants us both to drive him to the airport, because he doesn't want either of us driving home alone."

"Fine time to show fatherly concern," Kagome grumbled. Before her sister could say anything further, though, she waved one hand in resignation. "It's fine. I'll just tell my lovely little group that I can't make it to the next torture session."

Kikyo's frown deepened. "Were they complete jerks?" she demanded. She couldn't believe Kagome's bad luck to be stuck in a group with those three.

A strange array of emotions crossed her twin's face at this question. Truth be told, the group meeting had gone much better than Kagome had anticipated, though for some reason she suspected Kikyo wouldn't believe her if she said as much. Part of her was making the situation out to be worse than it was simply because Kikyo expected it. "Actually, we got a lot accomplished today, even if I was fifteen minutes late," she stated hesitantly. Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "Although Sango did ask me what I'd done with the real Kikyo. Apparently she noticed you weren't acting like your usual self. It's funny, you know, that your best friends and your boyfriend don't notice the differences between you and me, but then one of your worst enemies makes a comment like that. I nearly had a stroke at the time."

"What did you say?" her sister breathlessly inquired.

Kagome shrugged. "I acted oblivious. They don't really think I'm an imposter, you know. They just think you're acting different."

"Well," Kikyo hesitated, "maybe I should start going back to school again, just to be safe. If I position my hair just right…"

"If your hair shifts just slightly, that scab is glaringly obvious," Kagome interrupted, not at all liking the idea of giving up school just yet. "Besides that, you'd sweat off all your concealer in PE and end up showing everyone your bruises. Plus, you'd have to cut your hair, since Sango already commented on the difference in length."

"I guess I'm going to have to cut it anyway, then," said Kikyo with a tinge of regret. She loved her hair as long as it was and took impeccable care to keep it healthy and free of split-ends. "Or I could just tell everyone I had extensions put in," she added hopefully.

"How about I just keep up with the school scene for now and we can worry about our difference in hair lengths later?" Kagome suggested, smiling wryly as she reached forward to tweak one of Kikyo's dark tresses.

Her sister responded with a small smile and a meek, "Okay."

………

"You know what would make lunch so much better?" Miroku asked cheerfully, sliding into his seat next to Sango and grinning at Inuyasha across the table from him.

"This oughta be rich," Sango grumbled, using her white plastic spork to push some unknown gelatinous substance around her lunch tray.

"What?" Inuyasha inquired suspiciously.

"Bikinis," his perverted friend promptly responded, true to character. "Lunch with eye-candy for dessert."

"I don't know," said Sango doubtfully. "Seeing you in a bikini would most likely make me lose my appetite, if I didn't die laughing first."

"Forget seeing _him_ in a bikini," Inuyasha spoke up above Miroku's sputtered protest. "What about the lunch ladies?"

All three teens simultaneously shuddered at the mental image of the three flabby, decrepit old women who served their food doing so clad only in skimpy string bikinis and plastic gloves.

Sango pushed her own lunch firmly away, turning her face in disgust. "I'm done," she announced, having never really started.

"That's completely revolting," Miroku added, shooting Inuyasha an irate glare. "I was talking about bikinis for our lovely women colleagues, not for the staff."

"Ah," his best friend drawled as though suddenly enlightened. "Well, then, you're right. That would make lunch tons better. We should take the idea straight to the principal."

"Sarcasm duly noted," the lecher muttered, spooning up a large amount of the Beef Casserole Surprise and letting it glop back down onto his plate. "What do you supposed the surprise in this is, anyway?" he inquired vaguely, studying the lumpy gray-and-brown concoction.

"Whether or not you can eat it without needing your stomach pumped?"

All three teens jumped and turned, wide eyed, to view the speaker of this last comment. "Kikyo" stood next to their table and looked back at them as though there was nothing out of the ordinary with her being there.

"Keh," Inuyasha pronounced, the first to recover his wits. "Something you want, wench?"

She took the empty seat next to him, lightly jabbing his arm. "We had a truce, remember?" she prompted, before turning back to the others. "Since Mr. Seikai didn't give us any time in groups this morning, I didn't get the chance to tell you I can't make the meeting this afternoon."

"Why not?" Inuyasha demanded, since Miroku and Sango obviously wouldn't.

Her eyes flickered over to him briefly before dropping to the table, her fingers tracing imaginary patterns across its surface. "I have to drive my dad to the airport," she said in a low voice, hoping no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "He just told me about the trip yesterday, and his chauffeur is gone on some sort of family crisis, so I have to take him. Sorry."

The three teens exchanged glances, clearly confused that Kikyo was behaving so docilely toward them. "We'll reschedule," said Sango. "When will you be back from the airport?"

Kagome promptly looked up, surprise momentarily flashing through her eyes. "I-I'm not sure," she stammered. She hadn't anticipated them working around her sudden schedule change. "Probably sometime after six."

"My family eats dinner at six-thirty every night," Inuyasha volunteered his own conflict, "like clockwork, and my mom insists that I'm present."

"So how about seven-thirty?" Miroku suggested. "Everyone all right with that?"

"The library closes at seven on weekdays," said Sango. "We'll have to meet at someone's house."

Their eyes shifted around the table at one another, before Kagome quickly said, "Not mine."

Inuyasha snorted derisively, but added, "Not mine, either."

Miroku and Sango exchanged a glance. "Shall we flip a coin?" the lecher inquired congenially.

Sango rolled her eyes. "We can do it at my house," she grumbled.

"Good, because you have a pool. We can go swimming afterwards," Miroku remarked with sudden excitement.

"Why?" Inuyasha asked in confusion, for which he received a blank glance.

"Duh," said Miroku, his eyes shifting between Sango and Kagome. "Bikinis."

"Dream on," the girl next to him retorted, lightly slapping the back of his head.

"Okay," said Kagome, rising to her feet and glancing around at the three of them a bit hesitantly. "Seven-thirty at Sango's house. Thanks," she added under her breath as she turned to walk back to her usual table across the lunchroom.

"What on earth is going on with her?" Sango questioned out loud, her confused eyes watching the girl's retreating back. "She must really be shaken over this thing with Koga to be suddenly acting so… nice."

Back at her own table, Kagome spared a wistful glance toward the group she had just left before settling in with Kikyo's three friends. Yuka was in the middle of a vapid recap of her date the night before. Eri and Ayumi were both enthralled with the conversation, giggling and asking probing questions.

Kagome couldn't help but wish she were elsewhere, with some real friends of her own.

………

"Now," Ryutaro Higurashi commanded, glaring sternly at his two daughters, "you're not to get into any trouble while I'm away, is that understood?" His gaze lingered particularly on Kagome, who took a deep breath and nodded, quelling the urge to bristle at his insinuation. "I should be back some time next week. Should anything happen before then, you are to notify me immediately."

He lifted one spidery hand, motioning for his muscular bodyguard to wheel him into the terminal. The two girls watched from the car as he disappeared behind sliding doors.

"Why couldn't the bodyguard drive him here?" Kagome inquired petulantly. "Surely that wouldn't merit a pay raise."

"Because then he'd have to leave the car in long-term parking," Kikyo replied, hunching down in the back seat and rolling up the window. "Can you picture our father leaving one of his precious cars here even overnight?"

Her twin bit back a chuckle. "He'd probably just abandon it and buy a new one."

"That or have it taken apart in search of a bomb. Come on. Let's go home."

"Where exactly is he headed on this business trip?" Kagome inquired suddenly, to which Kikyo rolled her eyes.

"Only he and his pilot know that much, and the latter only because he had to file a flight plan. Good old Dad."

………

Kagome pulled the Geo up next to the curb in front of Sango's house, peering up at the residence through the passenger-side window. Another car already sat in front of hers, testifying that at least one of the boys had arrived. With a heavy sigh, she hefted her bag from the back seat and emerged from the vehicle, half-dreading the next hour.

She idly wondered how she would have gotten along with her three teammates had they met under different circumstances. Kikyo had very specifically named them as enemies, but they didn't always seem to act the part. And while Kagome couldn't find it in her heart to forgive Inuyasha for humiliating her twin with that bet, she was finding it harder and harder to transfer that grudge to Sango and Miroku. The former had too many admirable qualities not to be likeable, and the latter, for all his perverted ways, was at least interesting to be around. To be honest, even Inuyasha had his good moments.

And yet, they were enemies nonetheless.

Staring up the walkway, she paused at the sound of a car coming up the road and turned just in time to see a black Civic pull into the driveway. Inuyasha got out of the passenger side, a scowl on his face.

"I can get my own ride home," he sneered to the pale-haired driver, who replied with a comment that Kagome didn't quite catch. The murmured words seemed to infuriate Inuyasha, for he slammed the door in response, and the car promptly pulled back out into the street.

For an instant, Kagome thought the driver was a woman with long, silver hair. A glimpse of a masculine face told her otherwise, and she watched the car pull away even as Inuyasha slouched across the lawn toward the door, glaring at her.

"My stupid brother showed up this afternoon and commandeered my car," he grumped defensively as he rang the doorbell. Kagome wisely said nothing, training her attention forward.

The door swung open, revealing a slightly perturbed Sango. "Finally," she sighed in relief. "Miroku showed up twenty minutes ago and has been trying to cop a feel every chance he gets."

"And you think that'll change just because he has an audience?" Inuyasha inquired, slipping past her.

"True," she allowed. Her brows furrowed as she peered out into the street. "Did you two come together?" she asked upon seeing only Kikyo's car there.

"Keh. As if," Inuyasha scoffed. "Sesshomaru dropped me off. I'd have gotten a ride with Miroku, but he had already gone when I tried to call."

Kagome, for her part, ignored the conversation and headed into the front room, where a disappointed Miroku sat upon the floor rubbing his undoubtedly bruised head.

"Sesshomaru's in town?" the lecherous teen inquired, having heard the last part of the conversation.

"Showed up out of the blue in a cab," Inuyasha confirmed. "Didn't exactly specify how long he was going to be here this time, but Dad welcomed him with open arms, as always."

"What's he doing now, anyway?"

"Dunno. Some sort of international sales or something. He just got back from Asia, he said. Hey, did you finish reading the book yet, Kikyo?" he blatantly changed the subject.

Kagome nearly dropped her notebook, surprised that such a relatively civil question had originated from Inuyasha. "Not yet," she admitted, pulling out a tattered copy of _Wuthering Heights_. "I have about fifty pages left—I should be done with it tonight."

"Did you get your father to the airport all right?" Sango inquired politely, and she nodded in response.

"So… how long's he gone for?" Miroku spoke up, inspecting his fingernails in a seemingly nonchalant manner.

"I-I don't know, specifically," Kagome admitted, wondering why they were all being so nice to her. "He said he'd be back some time next week."

The lecherous teen smiled deviously. "Party at your house this weekend, then?"

Her eyes widened fractionally. "No, no. Eri's having one on Friday," she quickly stated, recalling that Kikyo's three friends had spent half the lunch hour planning said event. "It's her turn to host."

"Sweet," Miroku pronounced. "I'll be there."

"Congratulations," Sango added dryly. "You've just fallen prey to his less-than-stellar information-gathering techniques."

Kagome frowned. "It's not like the party was going to be a secret or anything. You'd all have heard about it by Friday anyway."

The three exchanged glances with one another, surprised at her openness and lack of indignation. Before they could comment on this, though, she had opened her notebook. "Can we get started here? I still have to go visit Koga tonight."

………

"I spy with my little eye something… blue," Miroku pronounced from his supine position on the couch.

"That ugly vase in the corner?" Inuyasha guessed, sprawled across an easy chair.

"Nope," his friend replied. The two boys had abandoned the task at hand, while their partners kept working faithfully. "Guess again."

"Sango's butt," Kagome pronounced without looking up from her hastily scribbled notes.

Miroku frowned. "How'd you know?" This, of course, earned him a withering glare from Kagome and a cry of outrage from Sango, who had been lying flat on her stomach on the floor.

"Quit looking at my butt, you pervert!" she yelled, rolling onto her side.

"But your jeans fit it so nicely," he protested, catching the pillow she lobbed in his direction. "It's a compliment, Sango! A compliment!"

"Shoulda known," Inuyasha grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"I'm surprised you didn't," said Kagome mildly as she added a couple more words to the sentence she was writing. "It was obvious enough."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved his hand negligently. "Hey, Sango! We need him alive for this project."

The athletic teen abruptly stopped beating on her perverted admirer and composed herself. "It's not as though either of you are doing anything at the moment. Kikyo and I are the only ones getting any work done."

"We should go swimming," Miroku perked up from behind her. "We've almost got this thing finished. Let's relax for a bit!"

"It's too cold," Kagome stated, still faithfully jotting down notes, "and I didn't bring along a swimsuit."

"Never mind that we didn't have this meeting to goof off," Sango added, sending a curious glance her way.

"You have an extra suit that Kikyo could borrow, right, Sango?" Miroku prompted, ignoring Sango's own objection to his plans.

"It would still be too cold," Kagome pronounced, looking up at last.

"There's a hot tub, too," said Miroku. "There, now we have no excuses not to."

Sango frowned. "Why are you even entertaining his ideas, Kikyo?" she demanded. "Shouldn't you be throwing him an icy glare and telling him to grow up?"

"Kikyo" shrugged in response, her expression suddenly flat. "Does it matter either way? It's not like we're actually going to go swimming. I'm not, anyway. You three can do what you want."

"We're not going swimming," Inuyasha pronounced from his chair. "Miroku's just looking for an excuse to see a couple of scantily clad women up close."

"Well, duh," said Kagome.

"You wound my honor," the teen in question declared, dramatically holding a fisted hand to his chest. "I simply thought we deserved to unwind a little after all of our arduous work. If my intentions were truly carnal, I would have suggested skinny-dipping." The next moment, his eyes glazed over and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Sango promptly hit him with another pillow. "Mind out of the gutter, Miroku."

"If we're done here," Kagome spoke up, checking her watch, "I should probably be on my way." She had the oddest feeling that Inuyasha's eyes were on her, but when she glanced his direction, his gaze was focused elsewhere in the room. "Do we need to meet again?" she asked, trying to shake that feeling.

"Just to compile all our information," said Sango. "Is tomorrow at the library okay with everyone?"

"We could do it here again," Miroku generously offered.

"The library's perfect," Kagome stated, gathering her books and sliding them back into her bag. She heard Inuyasha grunt some sort of agreement as she rose to her feet. "I'll see you all tomorrow, then," she smiled before turning to leave.

"Wait a minute, Kikyo!"

Kagome froze halfway through Sango's front door and cast an inquiring glance back over her shoulder to see that the athletic teen had followed her out of the front room.

Sango shifted her own eyes to where the two boys sat shamelessly eavesdropping. "Um," she started hesitantly, stepping closer.

"What do you need?" Kagome prompted, the question sounding more clipped than she intended.

"I was wondering which room Koga was in at the hospital," came the response, a small, questioning furrow appearing between Sango's eyebrows. She studied the girl in front of her for a moment before adding, "I'm supposed to take him something from the track team."

"Oh." Kagome's mind raced for a moment as she tried to think what she could say. She had no idea which room was Koga's. After all, Kikyo was the one who always visited him. "You know," she started smoothly, "to be honest, I don't remember what the room number is. I had a nurse take me there the first time, and I just always go back the same way. All you have to do is ask someone at the information desk, and they'll tell you. But visiting hours end at nine-thirty, so you might want to hurry," she added.

"Thanks," said Sango, a little taken back by the glib explanation. "Are you going over there right now?" she asked quickly as the other girl slipped fully out the door.

"Um, yeah. I told Koga I'd be by tonight. I do have to run home and change first, though, so I need to hurry." She managed an apologetic expression before politely waving goodbye and bolting for her car. The last thing she wanted to have happen was for Sango to ask her for a ride. No doubt her twin was already firmly ensconced in the chair next to Koga's bedside.

Sango watched from the doorway with mounting confusion as the small white hatchback sped off into the night. Kikyo didn't know what room Koga was in? That made no sense whatsoever. And why would she have to change before heading over?

Her thoughts were immediately cut short by a familiar caress on a very forbidden part of her body.

"Miroku," she growled, catching hold of his offending hand and twisting his fingers back as though she would break them.

"Uncle, Sango! Uncle!" he protested, his arm—his entire body, really—bending to one side in a vain attempt to alleviate the pain she inflicted upon him.

"Keh," said Inuyasha from the front room, rolling his eyes. "Stupid lecher."

………

"Koga, is there anything you want me to get for you? Some water, or maybe something from the vending machine?"

The bed-ridden young man cast a wry grin toward his attentive girlfriend. "No thanks, babe. Having you here by my side is doing me more good than anything."

Kikyo smiled softly and leaned over to gently kiss his cheek, careful that her curtain of dark hair didn't shift too much. The last thing she wanted was for Koga to discover the hideous wound that ran from just beneath her ear downward. She didn't worry about it as much now as she had at first, but she still hadn't thought of any plausible explanation for it to be there.

"Is that all I get?" he pouted, referring to the simple peck.

As she moved forward to oblige his request, a trill sounded from the bedside table. Kikyo promptly whirled and snatched up the telephone receiver, giving her boyfriend an apologetic look.

"Hello?" she inquired curiously, expecting Koga's parents or one of his friends to be on the other end.

"Kikyo?"

She recognized her sister's voice all too well. "Yeah?"

"It's me. I just got back from the group. Sango's on her way over to the hospital, and I wanted to give you a heads-up, since she thinks you know she's coming."

"Oh," she said, and then, because Koga was watching her closely, she added, "Koga's doing a lot better."

"Good to know," said Kagome wryly. "Tell him I was Yuka or something, calling to ask after his health."

"Of course," Kikyo smiled. "See you later." She hung up the phone and glibly lied, "That was Yuka. She says to tell you 'hi' and that she's glad you're feeling better."

"I coulda talked to her myself," he frowned, tilting his head to one side.

Having no answer to that, Kikyo merely shrugged. "I can call her back, if you want," she offered.

Koga, though, grinned his wolfish grin. "No thanks. I'm pretty sure we were in the middle of an important conversation when she called." He caught hold of Kikyo's hand and pulled her closer, noting the soft smile that lit up her eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, a knock sounded on the door, which promptly swung open. "Oh!" Sango cried, immediately blushing at the sight of Kikyo and Koga in the middle of an intimate moment. "I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, Sango," Koga grinned cluelessly as his girlfriend retreated primly back into her chair. "Didn't think I'd have any more visitors tonight."

She had been on the verge of retreating back out of the room but realized it was too late now. So instead, she stepped gingerly through the door, leaving it wide open behind her to make for a hasty escape. "Kikyo didn't tell you I was coming?"

"I wasn't sure whether you were coming tonight or tomorrow," Kikyo explained.

"Huh," said Sango. "Yeah, I am a bit late. The nurses already told me that visiting hours are nearly over," she added apologetically, then proffered the large card and bundle of balloons she was carrying. "I've been sent as an emissary of the track team to tell you to get well. The others should be dropping by over the next few days, but we didn't want to bombard you all at once."

"Thanks." Koga leaned forward and took both objects, reserving the card for himself while passing the balloons to Kikyo's care. She diligently received them and immediately tied them to the metal railing, seemingly absorbed in the task. "I guess this means I'm kicked off the team," he smiled sadly, gesturing toward his suspended leg.

"I think we're keeping you on as an honorary member," Sango smiled back. "How long are you going to be in a cast?"

"Probably eight weeks," he shrugged glumly. "If I'm lucky I'll have it off in time for graduation."

"Well that'll be good."

A long, awkward moment passed between the three teens as no one really knew what to say. "Have you had many visitors?" Sango finally managed, looking around at the various balloons, plants, and cards propped up around the hospital room.

"Yeah, a few." Koga's hand sought out Kikyo's, and he favored his girlfriend with a smile. "One really faithful visitor in particular." She smiled back, staring into his eyes as though they were the only two people in the room.

"Oh yeah," Sango mused aloud, subtly trying to remind them that she was still there, "Kikyo's visiting schedule is seriously conflicting with our group English project."

Koga's forehead wrinkled in concern. "What English project?" he demanded of the girl at his bedside. "You didn't tell me anything about an English project."

For a brief instant, Sango thought she saw panic flit across Kikyo's features, but it was gone so quickly that she convinced herself she was mistaken.

"I didn't think you'd want to hear about my school work, Koga," Kikyo responded logically. "It's just a boring project about _Wuthering Heights_."

"Who're you working with?"

"Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha. Mr. Seikai assigned it."

"Dog-face," Koga pronounced with obvious distaste. He squeezed her hand protectively. "If that jerk does anything to you, even says so much as a snide comment, you tell me, all right? I'll beat him over the head with my crutches."

Kikyo smirked and suppressed a laugh. "Now that I wouldn't mind seeing."

Sango merely watched the exchange with raised eyebrows. Kikyo seemed to be back to her cold, Inuyasha-hating self again. "You don't have to worry about that, Koga," the athletic beauty spoke up, once again calling their attention back to her and fixing her own eyes on his girlfriend. "Kikyo and Inuyasha have called a truce for the duration of the project."

Was that surprise that flickered through Kikyo's eyes?

"A truce?" Koga repeated skeptically. "Whose idea was that?"

"Mine," said Kikyo promptly. "Do you honestly think Inuyasha is mature enough to suggest a truce?" She inwardly prayed her assumption was correct, and released a slow breath when Sango made no attempt to contradict.

Koga opened his mouth to respond but never spoke the words on the tip of his tongue. The pointed sound of someone clearing her throat caused all three teens to turn toward the doorway, where stood a particularly malevolent-looking nurse. Her arms were folded over her chest and she looked primly between Kikyo and Sango.

"Visiting hours are over, girls. You'll have to come back tomorrow."

Kikyo stooped to pick her things up off the floor as Sango stammered an apology to the militant nurse and a farewell to the suddenly crestfallen Koga. The athletic teen politely stepped outside to allow the couple to say their goodbyes with only the nosy nurse looking on.

Briefly she considered waiting for Kikyo but in the end decided not to, instead heading off down the hallway with a million thoughts in her mind. Earlier that evening, in their group meeting, Kikyo had been at ease, her manner open and even joking at times. Now, here in the hospital, she had reverted back to her cold attitude, and Sango couldn't help but wonder at the reason. Perhaps it was because of Koga's presence, she reflected. Perhaps Kikyo didn't feel like she had to make an effort to be kind when she wasn't outnumbered by those who disliked her.

Whatever the case, Sango couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly amiss.

………

"I don't think you and I should be out of the house at the same time," Kikyo pronounced upon walking into Kagome's room that night. She dropped onto the bed and covered her eyes with one forearm.

"Probably a good idea," Kagome agreed from where she sat in the corner, typing on her laptop. "What spurred it?"

"Sango's visit to Koga. I was terrified that she would mention having come straight from the group meeting. Luckily she didn't, because I don't know how I would have explained my being in two places at once."

Her twin looked up from her computer screen. "Yeah," she agreed. "That would be a tough one."

"Thanks for the warning, by the way. And what's this I hear about a truce with Inuyasha?" Kikyo's gaze was both curious and accusing.

"It seemed the logical thing to do," said Kagome, shifting a little uncomfortably under her sister's scrutiny. "I wasn't up to fighting with him _and_ battling through some group project. The truce ends when the project does, anyway. We're meeting tomorrow for the last time."

"When and where?"

"Five, at the library."

"I guess I'll be home then. Just, Kagome…" her voice faltered, and her sister looked up at her expectantly. "Don't… don't let your guard down around them, okay?"

"I know," said Kagome. "There's always the possibility that this creep harassing you could be Miroku or Inuyasha. He's been rather quiet the last couple days, though, have you noticed?"

Kikyo frowned. "Maybe he has a group project of his own."

"Or maybe he's lying low after putting Koga in the hospital," Kagome suggested.

"Just don't let your guard down," her twin repeated to which she grimly smiled.

"Same to you."

………


	9. Switcheroo

**Double Take** by The Committee

Disclaimer: _Inuyasha_ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, et al.

* * *

Chapter Nine – Switcheroo

* * *

"_It could be almost anyone at school, really."_

Kagome trudged up the school steps, recalling the off-handed comment Kikyo had made the night before. "Almost anyone?" she had questioned at the time, to which her twin shrugged, seeming to radiate uncertainty.

The truth, she realized, was that her sister's stalker was not necessarily a fellow student. It could have been one of the security guards, or the janitor, or one of her teachers…

"Perish the thought," she muttered, disturbed at where this line of thinking was taking her.

She had forced Kikyo to sit down and make a list of possible suspects the night before, and it had by no means been short. All they really knew was that the person was male – or a very butch female, but that didn't bear going into – and that he had a sick, sick mind. And since most sociopaths did not typically walk around with "psycho" tattooed across their foreheads, it really was difficult to rule anyone out for certain.

"Well, it's definitely not Koga," Kikyo had pronounced.

"Not unless he whacked his own leg and beat himself unconscious," Kagome agreed but added nonchalantly, "or he could have an accomplice. We haven't really considered that option." She hadn't meant to be taken seriously, but Kikyo's shoulders tensed, and her expression turned apprehensive.

"It's not Koga," Kagome quickly assured her. "Even if your stalker has an accomplice, I really doubt he would put himself in harm's way. It wouldn't serve his purpose at all."

"Unless he was trying to get affection through sympathy," said Kikyo, her expression edgy.

Her twin frowned, leveling her with a scrutinizing gaze. "What exactly are you two doing in that hospital room, anyway?"

The comment had had its desired effect in breaking up their somber mood, Kikyo turning to swat Kagome even as a crimson blush stained her cheeks. The rest of the evening had been spent leafing through last year's yearbook, with Kagome throwing out names and her sister duly jotting them down.

"…have it done for you by lunchtime, I promise!"

"I told you to have it done this morning, idiot! Now don't make me beat it out of you!"

The exchange yanked Kagome's attention back to the present, causing her to freeze in her tracks, one hand on the door leading into school. About seven feet to her right, partially obscured by a brick column and a potted plant, stood three of the Shichinin gang, cornering a fourth person that she could not see.

"_Shichinin gang?"_

"_Most definitely – they're all delinquents with a history of violence. Although I think we can rule out Jakotsu, given his well-publicized preferences."_

Jakotsu didn't happen to be attending this gathering, Kagome observed. Renkotsu seemed to be the one doing the talking, and the other two – Bankotsu and Suikotsu, she thought – alternately watched and stifled yawns. Apparently this sort of occurrence was fairly routine.

"It's almost finished – I'll have it to you at lunchtime, I swear!"

"You'll have a broken neck and a hospital bed at lunch," Renkotsu snarled, slamming his victim against the wall. Kagome looked around frantically to see if any adults were in the vicinity, but the area seemed oddly clear of traffic.

"Did you ever consider doing your own homework, Ren?" The drawled question came from Bankotsu, who seemed thoroughly bored by the proceedings.

His friend snorted. "Why should I when Poindexter here does such a good job?"

"Poindexter?" Suikotsu intoned thoughtfully. "Does anyone actually say that anymore?"

"Shut up and mind your own business."

Suikotsu sniffed. "I would, but we seem to be attracting an audience."

An instant too late, Kagome realized he was referring to her. Her instincts screamed for her to bolt, but instead she remained rooted to the spot, still clasping the door handle as four sets of eyes turned her direction.

"Hey, Higurashi," Bankotsu spoke, nodding at her and smirking in a manner that was overly familiar. "How's your boyfriend?"

"He's…" _Run, you fool!_ Her mental thought process interrupted her, and she floundered for a response.

"You lonely?" Renkotsu inquired, backing away from his victim and quirking a cheeky eyebrow in her direction. "You're more than welcome to come hang out with us after school. Hell, we can ditch class right now and have a little fun. I'm sure your wolf-boy won't mind."

She bristled at his lewd tone of voice and opened her mouth to reply. "I…"

"She'll have to play hooky with you another day," said a voice from behind. "We've got a group project coming due, and I ain't sacrificing my grade just so you can get a little action."

Renkotsu froze in place even as Kagome felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. Her eyes darted up to discover Inuyasha standing at her elbow, a firm set to his mouth and his attention fixed wholly on the three gang members. Their victim, seemingly forgotten for the moment, was already slinking away into the bushes.

"Mind your own business, mongrel," Renkotsu snarled, rolling up one of his sleeves with a menacing glare, "or I'll…"

Bankotsu cleared his throat, the simple sound interrupting his friend's speech. When Renkotsu turned an inquiring eye, the gang leader wordlessly shook his head, his expression plainly telling him to back down on this one.

Inuyasha took this opportunity to yank open the school door and bodily propel Kagome inward, leaving the scene with a flippant "Catch you all later!" tossed over his shoulder. The three juvenile delinquents wouldn't follow them into the school, not when there were still so many people milling about before class. Hence, once they were several steps inside, he released his hold and turned on her, blocking her path.

"Did you swallow stupid-pills this morning?" he demanded angrily. "What in seven hells would make you stop and watch the Shichinin shake down a victim, Kikyo?"

Kagome, previously stunned at this odd twist of events, felt a sudden rush of outrage flood into her veins. "Why wasn't anyone around to help that poor kid?" she retorted. "Renkotsu was threatening to put him in the hospital, like…" Her voice broke off as she realized what she was about to say. Instead of finishing her sentence, she clamped her mouth shut and glared at the wall, arms folded in a passive-aggressive stance.

As such, she missed the flash of understanding that crossed Inuyasha's face. "Like Koga?" he finished for her, the sneer dropping from his voice. "Look, you can rule out the Shichinin gang on that one."

Her eyes shifted toward him, narrowing in speculation. "They're certainly capable," she said grudgingly.

"It's not their style," he replied, not bothering to refute their capabilities.

"_You_ seem to be on chummy terms with them." The accusation fell from her lips before she could stop herself, and she waited a tense moment for his response.

Inuyasha sent a curious glance in her direction before turning his attention further down the hall. "Everyone has a place in the social pecking order," he vaguely shrugged, then added, "Look, when they beat the shit out of someone, everyone knows it, plain and simple. There's none of this mysterious 'whodunit' business. Now c'mon – we're gonna be late for class."

He caught her elbow and dragged her forward even as the first bell pealed through the hallways. Kagome, too intent on considering his words and the many implications of their conversation, allowed herself to be pulled along. The Shichinin gang preyed on weaker individuals – that much was clear – and no one could say that Inuyasha was weak, per se… but the fact that Bankotsu had openly prevented an altercation with him when he would have been outnumbered three to one said volumes.

And the fact that his name was right at the top of Kikyo's suspects list only added to that. But Kagome, somehow, didn't want to believe…

"Did you finish the book yet?"

The abrupt question startled her out of her reverie and made her aware of her current surroundings. "Yeah," she said, extracting her arm from Inuyasha's grip, but continuing to walk alongside him nonetheless. "The ending almost made up for the rest of it. Not quite, though."

Inuyasha snorted. "I thought chicks were supposed to like romantic crap."

"What's so romantic about two selfish people making everyone around them miserable just to spite one another?" she countered. An odd expression crossed his face, but it was gone almost as quickly as it came. Kagome, intrigued, continued, "I mean, if the two of them had just sat down and talked things out to begin with, communicated with one another, maybe things would have been better for them."

His mouth set in a bitter line. "Catherine was a bossy bitch who wouldn't listen to a word Heathcliff had to say."

"Yeah, well, Heathcliff was an arrogant jerk anyway," she stated, fully aware that the conversation had taken upon it another meaning altogether. "And from what I could tell, he didn't say much worth listening to. Besides, his intentions were probably bad from the start."

A muscle rippled along his jaw as he clenched his teeth. "Or Catherine just jumped to the wrong conclusions and lashed out at everyone – it's not like her role was all sunshine and daisies, you know."

"I know," Kagome admitted, her voice quiet as she considered the venom Kikyo still felt toward Inuyasha and toward everything relating to him, including the people he associated with. As much as she loved her sister, Kagome couldn't help but wonder if maybe Kikyo had blown some things out of proportion. To be sure, Inuyasha should never have made her the object of a bet…

"They were probably both wrong," she allowed, "though Heathcliff definitely more so."

A scoff fell from his lips as he yanked open the door to their English class. "Of course," he remarked with sarcasm. "The man's always the one to blame, isn't he?" He didn't linger to hear any response from her, but strode to his place at the back of the class, where he promptly slouched down into his chair and glared at the wall.

Kagome, a bit peeved, found her own seat at the front and turned attentive eyes toward the chalkboard, where Mr. Seikai was jotting notes for the day's discussion. Her mind felt muddied, too jumbled with conflicting thoughts for her to focus on any single one, so instead she threw her concentration into the lesson, hoping everything else would sort itself out later.

………

"This is not my day," Kagome muttered aloud as she dropped her backpack onto a table in the school library. First the encounter with the Shichinin, then the argument with Inuyasha… and both of those had taken place before the school day had even officially started. She should have turned right around and gone home, she realized.

During second period, Mr. Takeda had nonchalantly reminded them of their test tomorrow. Apparently they had a test every other Friday, and since they had not had one the week prior to spring break…

"Kiss your grade goodbye, Kikyo," Kagome apostrophized to her absent twin as her attention shifted between the textbook and her own scribbled notes. Of all her sister's subjects, this one gave her the most trouble. The very idea of taking a test made her head throb.

But that wasn't even the worst of it. No sooner had she set foot outside her math class than she was attacked by Yuka and Eri, who had each grabbed her by an arm and frog-marched her to their next period, all the while talking to her about the party tomorrow, and how she had to help plan it at lunchtime, and how her attendance was required, even though Koga was still in the hospital, because they were all seniors and graduation was looming on the horizon and this was quite possibly the best time of their lives…

The seemingly never-ending stream of words had made her head spin, causing her to nod her agreement in sheer desperation, just to get them to shut up.

So of course, lunchtime found her firmly ensconced in the school library, which, according to the school layout, was on the opposite side of the building as the cafeteria, as far as she could get from any party-planning endeavors. She really did need to study, she justified to herself. But now, with her math notes strewn out across the table, a mess of confusing mumbo-jumbo to her untrained eye, she found herself wanting to procrastinate that as well.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the cafeteria making drink assignments right about now?"

Her gaze jerked up from a particularly cipher-like calculus problem to discover none other than Sango standing in front of her, backpack slung over one shoulder and a couple books cradled in her arms.

"Shouldn't you be in there fending off Miroku's wandering hands?" Kagome responded wryly.

She blanched. "I swear I'm going to break his fingers one of these days."

"Like that would stop him."

Tilting her head to one side, Sango scrutinized the girl before her. "Seriously, Kikyo, what are you doing here? Or did I just imagine overhearing you tell Yuka and Eri that you'd join in on their party preparations at lunchtime? That is the sort of thing your crowd lives for, isn't it?"

"My crowd?" Kagome repeated, a frown etched between her brows as she recalled the impatient tone her twin usually had when speaking of her so-called friends. "I don't think I really have a crowd," she pronounced after a moment.

The other teen set her books on the table with a loud thud, her backpack sliding from her shoulder as she dropped into a chair. "I don't get you," she declared frankly.

Kagome wisely pursed her lips and turned her attention back to her notes. Moments later, realizing that she was still being observed, she cleared her throat and inquired, "So what exactly are you doing in here, again?"

"Some days I really can't handle Miroku," Sango shrugged pulling a mechanical pencil from her bag and opening one of her textbooks. "Especially," she added, glancing covertly up at the girl across from her, "when Inuyasha's in a crummy mood as well."

"Is Inuyasha ever _not_ in a crummy mood?" Kagome asked, suppressing a sigh and pointedly avoiding eye contact.

"He's usually pretty decent. You must have said something to really piss him off this morning."

She threw down her pencil and glared at the girl across from her. "And what makes you think his foul mood is my fault?" she demanded, the accusation striking a chord.

Sango arched an eyebrow. "You're the only one that's ever been able to get under his skin like that," she said plainly. "The same way he gets under your skin, you know?"

"He does not…" she started, before gritting her teeth together. Okay, so her encounter with Inuyasha this morning had set her on edge. But that didn't mean anything. He would have tried the patience of a saint with his arrogant attitude. "Look," she bit out, a thousand thoughts flowing through her head, "what exactly are you trying to say, Sango?"

The girl shrugged, seeming to ponder her words. "You seemed happy enough with Koga last night," she remarked at last, "but I think you have some issues you need to resolve with Inuyasha."

Kagome opened her mouth to retort, "I do not—"

A throat cleared, cutting her words short. Both girls swiveled their heads to view the source of the disruption, which came in the form of Hojo, who seemed extremely hesitant and was apparently blushing at his own audacity.

"H-hi, Higurashi," he greeted Kagome, nodding to Sango in acknowledgement as well. "Sorry to interrupt, but… I was wondering if you could tell me Koga's room number at the hospital. I have some notes for him from our math class that I was asked to deliver…"

"He's in room five-fifteen," Sango broke in, throwing a significant glance in Kagome's direction. "Kikyo doesn't pay attention to that sort of detail," she added lightly.

Kagome suppressed the urge to growl. "I can take him the notes, if you like," she offered instead. "I'll probably be there tonight anyway."

"After her study session with Inuyasha," Sango chirped brightly.

"In which Sango and Miroku will continue flirting shamelessly with one another," Kagome shot back.

"I do not—!" Sango flushed to her roots, her eyes wide with outrage.

Hojo was watching the interchange like a spectator at a tennis game. "N-no, that's all right," he finally managed to answer. "I'll take them to him myself. Room five-fifteen, right?"

"Right," both girls said in unison, eyeing one another with resentment.

"Well, then," he forced a laugh and scratched the back of his head with one hand, "I guess I'll see you around. Both of you," he added more as an afterthought, backing away from the tense atmosphere.

"I do not flirt with Miroku," Sango hissed the minute he was out of earshot.

"Oh, please," Kagome retorted, glad the conversation had twisted away from her relationship – her _sister's_ relationship – with Inuyasha. "I've seen that secret smile on your face when you think no one's watching."

"Is it anything like the dreamy look I keep spotting on _your_ face?"

"I have a _boyfriend_!"

"Oh, sure! Hide behind Koga when you're obviously harboring feelings toward Inuyasha!"

The argument would have gone further, but the librarian finally saw fit to interrupt, offering a stern rebuke and efficiently ejecting the two out into the school corridors before they really knew what had happened. A bit dazed, they stared at one another for a long moment before Sango coughed lightly and turned her head to gaze at the far wall.

"You might be a little right," she admitted. "Only a little."

"Ditto," grumbled Kagome, and it killed her pride. She didn't want to be "harboring feelings," as Sango had put it, but… well, he _could_ be decent when he wanted to be, not to mention that he _was_ quite good-looking… and, after all, she had been socially sheltered all her life, so it was only natural that she get attached to the first guy that came along, regardless of the possibility that her twin still had some buried feelings toward him as well…

"What are you going to do?" Sango's question broke into her stream of self-justification.

Kagome snorted, resuming her role as Kikyo. "Nothing. I have a boyfriend. I have a life. And after tonight, our project is finished and I won't have to interact with Inuyasha anymore. What are _you_ going to do?"

"Probably sucker-punch Miroku the next time I see him," said Sango with a resigned shrug.

"Which is in, like, ten minutes, since we all have French next period."

"Hmm. Convenient." The athletic teen flexed one hand experimentally, then balled it into a fist, inspecting it with disinterest.

Kagome watched the process for a moment before declaring, "Everything is so screwed up right now." Sango's eyes jerked up in surprise, but an instant later she nodded her agreement.

"You can say that again."

………

The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Inuyasha was pointedly ignoring 'Kikyo,' Sango was pointedly ignoring Miroku, and Miroku was nursing the pre-emptive slap Sango had administered a few moments earlier. Kikyo – or Kagome, rather – had her attention wholly focused on the project itself, the only one who had kept the group from falling apart in the last hour.

"So the collage is finished, the essay's written, and the Works Cited have been compiled. Now who's the lucky sot that gets to type it all up and put it in the pretty folder Sango has supplied?"

Silence answered her question. Kagome, never one to exercise a lot of patience, declared, "Thanks for volunteering, Miroku. So that settles that."

"What?" the young man in question protested. "Why me?"

"Because Sango and Inuyasha are both in foul moods and I'm afraid of upsetting them further."

"So why don't you do it?" he pressed.

"Sango and I practically wrote the entire essay between us while you were playing 'I Spy.' So, one of you gets to type it." She started to push the stack of handwritten pages in his direction, only to have them snatched out of her grasp.

"Don't give that to him," Inuyasha said flatly. "He'll lose it in that sty he calls a bedroom, and then we'll all be screwed."

"Damn straight," Miroku nodded, not at all offended about the reference to his living conditions.

"But—" said Kagome.

"I'll do it," Inuyasha grudgingly added, "so long as you or Sango takes responsibility for that monstrosity." He gestured toward the poster-board collage they had made to represent the novel and all its varying influences.

"Thanks," she answered, and she was sincere about it. The rest of her evening was already allotted to the endeavor of cramming for a calculus test she was sure to fail, and typing their group essay was one less thing to worry about. "I'll take care of the collage, unless Sango wants it."

Sango absently waved one hand, still in a funk.

"So that's it," Kagome pronounced, almost reluctant. "Everything's taken care of."

They each started gathering up their things, readying to go their separate ways, when Miroku suddenly perked up, an inquisitive expression on his face.

"So, does this mean your truce is over?" he asked, gesturing between Inuyasha and Kagome.

The two glanced at one another, then Inuyasha snorted, looking away. "Guess so," he uttered.

"Although technically," Kagome piped up, "the project isn't finished until we hand it in." The remark earned her three stunned looks. "What?" she asked defensively. "It's not."

"You—" started Miroku, but Sango elbowed him in the side effectively cutting off what he was going to say. "Ow! What was that for?" he demanded, rubbing the injured spot with one hand.

"Truce doesn't end until tomorrow," said Sango, ignoring him in favor of throwing Kagome a knowing smirk.

"And on that note, I'm off to visit my _boyfriend_," Kagome stated, slinging her bag over one shoulder and heading for the door.

"Room five-fifteen!" Sango called after her cheerfully.

………

Kikyo appeared almost radiant when she got home from the hospital later that night. "Koga's doctors say he's doing so well that he might get released tomorrow!" she smiled. "Or possibly Saturday. He was up tonight, walking on crutches, and… what's that look for?" She was standing in her twin's doorway, her gushing brought to a halt by the perturbed expression on Kagome's face.

"I suck at calculus," said twin pronounced, sullenly glaring at the textbook.

"Oh."

"Which means you're going to fail your test tomorrow," Kagome supplied, as her sister did not seem to grasp the full significance of her admission.

"Oh." Kikyo's happy face switched to one of dismay. "But—!"

"I'm too far behind to catch up in just one night," her sister interjected, shaking her head ruefully. "Unless you can somehow transfer your brain into my head…"

"Or take the test myself," said Kikyo, a thoughtful gleam in her eyes.

For some reason, Kagome did not like that idea one bit. "The doctor won't even consider removing your sutures for another three days," she pointed out, "and your bruising…"

"…is nicely covered by a thick foundation. As for the sutures, I can cover them with a high collar, like I've been doing with Koga all week." She gestured toward her blouse, whose collar was fashionably turned up at the moment.

"It's too risky," Kagome frowned. "Besides, you'll have to change into your gym clothes for PE."

"Who said anything about me going to gym?" asked Kikyo. "I just said I'd take my own math test."

"But…"

"We can switch in the bathroom after second period or something. I'd suggest lunchtime, but it would be too crowded then."

"But…"

"And besides, if I go to Government, Yuka and Eri will try to make me help them with their party…"

"Oh, they already…"

"I think I have a couple white turtlenecks in my closet that would go with the school uniform…" On that note, Kikyo wandered off, the plan for the next day flying through her head and her sister's attempts at speaking completely ignored.

Kagome's gaze shifted down to the detested calculus textbook. "So much for that," she muttered, tossing down her pencil.

………

It wasn't until Kikyo was walking up the steps of Goshinboku High the next morning that she realized just how many risks they were taking with this little scheme. Even though Kagome was set to arrive at school during first period, when the halls were basically deserted, there was still the possibility of a faculty member or security guard catching sight of her. Ditto for when Kikyo left during third period. She could just imagine some overzealous teacher escorting her back to her government class, only to discover her twin there already.

Why hadn't they just phoned in sick today? Oh yeah. Dad didn't like Kikyo to miss school. That was half the reasoning behind the original hair-brained switch anyway.

Well, she'd made her bed, and now she'd have to lie in it. Shifting the _Wuthering Heights_ collage to one hand, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves, then entered the school for the first time in nearly two weeks.

She'd forgotten how many people there were. Rather silly of her, but there it was. Ducking through the crowds, she made her way to her locker and therein deposited her books and backpack, holding back only her English and Calculus texts; Kagome could retrieve what she needed later. Slamming the door, she jumped in surprise to discover someone behind it, leaning on the locker next to hers.

"Good morning."

"Sango," she acknowledged, recovering her composure despite the confusion mounting in her mind. Kagome hadn't said anything about needing to speak with Sango before first period. "Did you need something?" she inquired a bit coldly.

"Just making sure you found Koga's room last night," Sango replied, a note of teasing in her voice.

Kikyo had the distinct impression that she was missing the punch line of an inside joke. "Of course I did," she answered stiffly, if not with a slight amount of hostility.

The response seemed to take the other girl off-guard, because she drew back a pace and really scrutinized Kikyo up and down. "Back to that, are we?" she asked, brows coming together in a frown.

Feeling at a loss, the only solution Kikyo could come up with in this particular situation was to extract herself from it. "We have a project to turn in," she stated, moving in the direction of their English class. "Do you think Inuyasha managed to type the essay, or did his mommy do it for him?"

Sango fell in step beside her, looking not so much angry at the jab as disappointed. "Wow. You really take the end of a truce seriously, don't you?" she remarked.

Kikyo was spared the trouble of answering by the fortuitous arrival of Miroku, who came from behind and greeted them both with a fond pat on the rear. Two slaps later, the former conversation had been forgotten. While Sango chewed out the lecherous young man, Kikyo picked up her pace, wondering to herself exactly how friendly Kagome had become with this crowd.

"Kikyo must've woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Miroku commented to Sango when they realized she had left them behind.

"More like she's back to normal," said Sango, her eyes following the figure's retreat.

………

It had all gone better than she had planned, Kikyo couldn't help but reflect. She had managed to get the English project turned in with minimal interaction with her group-mates (really, how had Kagome worked with them?), and the calculus test turned out to be, well, if not a piece of cake, then at least moderately easy. Kagome probably could have managed it…

Or not. She fully admitted that she had no genius for mathematics. And speaking of Kagome…

"Mr. Takeda?" Kikyo questioned in a hushed voice as she handed her test in a full fifteen minutes before class ended. Her teacher looked up from his desk, surprised, and waited for her to continue. "Could I have a pass to go use the restroom?"

He frowned, looked at the clock, then back at his student. "You can't wait until the end of class?"

She shook her head and tried to appear sincere in her urgency. If she and Kagome could switch places during class periods, that would lessen the chances of someone spotting both of them in the bathroom.

Mr. Takeda, not able or willing to argue with her, handed her a small plastic card from his inbox. Kikyo bolted out of the classroom and down the hall to the bathroom, hoping Kagome was there, that she hadn't been somehow intercepted or waylaid.

The door creaked as she opened it. The bathroom appeared empty, except the stall on the end, which had a closed door. Stooping to check for feet, Kikyo frowned when she saw none.

"Kagome?" she inquired aloud. A sigh of relief answered her, and she saw a couple feet step down into sight.

"You were standing on the toilet?" Kikyo inquired as soon as the door opened to reveal her twin.

"I was checking to see if I could reach the air vent," Kagome responded primly, gesturing toward a metal grate directly above the stall. "What gives? You weren't supposed to be here for another twelve minutes."

"I finished my test early and thought it would be a good idea if we switched before the bell instead of after. Did you have any trouble getting here?"

Both girls stepped up to the mirror, side by side, inspecting their hair, make-up, and clothing to make certain it was identical. Each wore a white turtleneck beneath her blue school uniform blazer and vest, and each had her hair pulled back into a traditional bun, Kikyo having balked at cutting her hair just yet. In fact, only one discrepancy showed: Kagome's earrings were different than Kikyo's.

"None," said Kagome, taking out her hoops and exchanging them for her sister's studs. "I just walked into the front office, handed them a note from Dad explaining my tardiness, and came straight here. I even kept the hall pass so that you'd be able to use it to make your escape."

Kikyo frowned. "How did you get a note from…?" she started to ask, her voice trailing off mid-sentence as several ideas struck her at once. "…He's not home yet, is he?" she ventured.

Her twin shot her a flat glance. "No. The note was a forgery, of course."

"That's illegal," hissed Kikyo.

"Add it to the list," Kagome retorted. "Now the car I came in is on the west side of the lot – it's the…"

The door hinges creaked, and Kagome broke off her words to bolt into the nearest stall, snapping its lock in place as the intruder entered. Kikyo flipped on the sink as though she were washing her hands, her gaze lifting to discover Sango standing at the corner that led out.

"Finish your test early as well?" Kikyo inquired, hoping that her conversation with her twin had not carried beyond the restroom door. For privacy purposes, the door itself had been built behind a small partition, thereby blocking any view of the stalls. Kagome had not been seen, that much was certain, but had she been heard…?

Sango was silent, observing the girl in front of her for a long moment. Then, she pronounced, "You know, you're like a completely different person today. What is going on?"

"Nothing," Kikyo shrugged, turning off the tap and shaking her hands. "Did you come all the way from class to ask me that, or did you actually need to use the facilities?" she added a bit stiffly. Inwardly she prayed that Sango would head into one of the stalls; otherwise, she would be stuck heading back to class with her, her chance to switch places with her sister completely shot.

To her great relief, Sango shook her head, appearing slightly disgusted, then walked into the stall closest to the door. As soon as the lock slid into place, Kagome poked her head out of her own stall. Kikyo made a move to take her place, but she shook her head, tiptoeing out and handing her twin the office-issued hall pass and a set of keys.

"Hey Sango," she called, and Kikyo nearly panicked, "do you have a dream car? Mine's a _red BMW M6_." She stressed the words, motioning her sister to the exit.

Kikyo caught her meaning and didn't need another hint, slinking away toward the doorway. "Dream car?" Sango inquired from within her stall, clearly confused at such a random question being asked.

The bathroom door squeaked as Kikyo started to pull it open, and Kagome immediately turned the sink on full blast to help drown out the noise. "Yeah, dream car," she encouraged. The door's hinges squealed in the background, and a slight thudding signaled that her sister was gone.

"I'm not really into vehicles," Sango stated. "And from what I've heard, BMWs are high-maintenance." The toilet flushed.

"Oh, sure," agreed Kagome, "but they drive so beautifully." She finished rinsing her hands and was reaching for a towel when Sango's bathroom stall opened. The girl took two steps toward the row of sinks before stopping in her tracks.

"Didn't you already wash your hands?" she inquired, eyeing the paper towel Kagome had plucked from the dispenser.

Kagome looked down at her wet hands, then back up at Sango. "A girl can never be too careful," she shrugged and smiled. Sango looked at her suspiciously, but then closed the distance to the sink and washed her own hands, her gaze shifting between the faucet and the girl next to her.

A frown marred her brows. "Weren't you just wearing hoop earrings?" she blurted suddenly.

Kagome's smile faltered. "No," she answered. "I've been wearing studs all day. I wore hoops yesterday, though."

Sango continued to frown, switching off the water and reaching for a paper towel. "…like a completely different person," she muttered to herself, shaking her head as though she were going crazy. Kagome couldn't help but pity her, all the while rejoicing that Sango's apparent self-doubt had allowed her to get away with her lie.

"We should probably get back to class," she said, hoping that Kikyo had not been waylaid in the hallway. "The bell's going to ring soon, and I'm sure Mr. Takeda is wondering what's taking both of us so long."

Sango nodded absently, tossing her paper towel into the trash can and following Kagome from the bathroom. Luckily, there was no sign of Kikyo in the vicinity, and her twin breathed a sigh of relief, almost unable to believe that everything had gone as well as it had. By now, Kikyo would be out in the parking lot, and Kagome could finish the rest of the day comfortably.

Really, the only one worse for wear from the entire venture was Sango. Or so it seemed.

………

"Look, Eri, I know the end of school is coming, and that this will be one of the 'last big parties,' but I just don't feel it would be appropriate for me to attend while Koga's in the hospital."

Kagome came to stand in her sister's bedroom doorway just in time to hear this last comment. Kikyo made a face at her, clearly communicating her impatience with her friend on the other end of the line. Then, suddenly, her attention snapped back to the phone conversation.

"Wait, what do you mean, you already talked to Koga? He said he's fine with it? Who is he to—? Fine, fine. Yes, I'll be there, all right?" Even as she agreed, she motioned toward Kagome as if to say, _You! You're going to this thing, not me!_

Kagome's eyes widened, and she vehemently shook her head.

"Yes, I'll be there. I promise. I'll see you in a few hours." She said her goodbyes and hung up the phone.

"Kikyo!" Kagome protested in despair. "I hate crowds! They make me paranoid!"

"Well one of us has to show up, and it's not going to be me," her sister replied tartly. "I'm sorry, Kagome."

Kagome, though, had immediately sobered, her eyes catching sight of the rough black jag an inch beneath her twin's ear. The skin around it was a mottled, greenish yellow in color, half-healed bruises still testifying of Kikyo's last party venture.

"I'll go," she whispered. "It's only fair. I'll go."

Kikyo's irate expression melted away into grateful relief, and she flashed her sister a bright smile. "Okay," she said, stepping forward to seize Kagome by the elbow. "Let's go find you something to wear!"

………

With great trepidation did Kagome trudge up the walkway to Eri's large, three-story house. The music was already blasting, and behind the window shades, silhouettes writhed in beat. It was like something out of a nightmare.

Swallowing hard, she pushed open the door. The sight that greeted her nearly made her turn around and go back home.

"Breathe," she muttered to herself, stepping across the threshold into the throng of bodies. She hated crowds. Sure, they were a good place to hide when on the run, but it was a double-edged sword: enemies could be lurking in the sea of faces as well. Most people in crowded areas were too oblivious to those around them to notice anything suspicious happening until it was too late.

The party had already been at full swing for an hour; she had delayed coming as long as she possibly could, which was as much true to Kikyo's character as her own. By now, a significant percentage of the attendees were already well on their way to being drunk. Someone shoved a red plastic cup at her hands the moment she entered the house, and she pushed it away, wrinkling her nose at the questionable substance and the sour smell of alcohol.

"No, thanks," she said, but her voice was lost in the pound of music.

"Kikyo!" Someone to her right had screamed the name, and she whirled to discover Eri descending on her. "For a while there I thought you were going to bail on us!" she shouted, pulling Kagome into a tight embrace. "Isn't this awesome? I'm so glad my parents are out of town – they'd kill me if they walked in on this!"

"Yeah, awesome," Kagome managed, feeling as though she were suffocating. Even after Eri released her, the walls still seemed to close in on her.

"Ooh!" Eri's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper as she pulled her off to the side. "Don't look now, but there's Inuyasha." Kagome immediately disobeyed Eri's command, her eyes seeking out the familiar face in the crowd of strangers. "I know you and he are on bad terms," Eri was saying, her own attention fixed on the young man in question, "but would you really mind if I made a move?"

"Yes," said Kagome instinctively. Kikyo would mind, she reasoned. She wouldn't want her friend to go out with such a jerk…

Eri wrinkled her nose at the answer. "I thought so. But he's so… 'cute' doesn't even begin to cover it."

"I thought you had a thing for Hojo," Kagome accused, even as a surge of jealousy twisted through her chest. "Didn't you spend half a lunch period extolling him to us?"

The girl, however, waived one hand in a vague dismissal. "Hojo was so three days ago. I'm ready to move onto bigger and better things. What if I just had a quick fling with Inuyasha? You wouldn't mind that, would you?" At Kagome's flat glare, her shoulders slumped and she rolled her eyes. "Fine, I guess I'll have to settle for… Hello, Handsome."

The next instant, Eri was gone, trailing after some random – though admittedly good-looking – young man that had just walked by them. Kagome was left to her own devices, and she soon found herself moving toward the refreshment tables, getting bumped and jostled every step of the way.

"Well, if it isn't Kikyo," a voice next to her intoned as she pulled a bottled water from the ice chest below the table, "and looking hot tonight without her man."

She turned in time to see Renkotsu invading her space. Taking a step back, she mumbled a faint greeting.

In return, he plucked the water bottle from her hand and replaced it with an open beer.

"Oh, definitely not," said Kagome, firmly placing the object down on the table. She had no intention of consuming any alcohol tonight – she'd need her wits around her. Instead, she moved to grab the water back, but he jerked it out of her reach.

"Now, now, that's not what you're supposed to do. Be a good girl and drink what you're given."

"She can't," drawled a bleary voice, and a heavy arm draped around her shoulder. "She's my designated driver."

Kagome discovered her savior to be none other than Miroku, who held a beer in his free hand and appeared to have had one too many. She was too thankful for his appearance to shake off his embrace. Renkotsu, on the other hand, eyed the pair, one hand fisting at his side. Luckily, at that moment a scantily clad sophomore walked by, effectively diverting his attention. He cut his losses and disappeared into the crowd.

"Don't you know you're supposed to turn tail and run if ever noticed by a member of the Shichinin?" Miroku asked, setting his beer on the table and leading her away. The tone of his voice had changed, and Kagome realized that he was completely sober.

"Y-you… you're not drunk," she observed.

Miroku smirked. "I never am," he answered. "It was just an act."

"Thank you." And she meant it. Miroku, though, simply shook his head, his eyes staring off into the crowd.

"Wasn't my idea," he stated, and her gaze followed his to rest on Inuyasha, who was pointedly _not_ looking their direction.

Her heart flip-flopped in her chest, and she told herself that it was just the anxiety of being in such a large crowd. "I think I need to go find a bathroom," she stated, ducking out from beneath Miroku's arm.

"There's a line for the three down here, but there might be a couple on the second floor," he offered. Kagome took his suggestion and melted into the crowd, leaving him behind as she wove her way to the staircase. She was running away, she fully admitted to herself, not wanting to encounter Inuyasha, not trusting herself in this environment. There were too many unknown faces, and she was too apt to cling to the familiar ones, as the encounter with Miroku had proven. And she was _Kikyo_ right now, Kikyo who hated Inuyasha.

She climbed past the bodies stationed on every step, making her way down a darkened hallway at the top as these thoughts coursed through her mind. Apparently Eri didn't want people coming up here, not that anyone was really heeding that wish. She could hear some questionable sounds coming from behind a couple of the closed doors.

Shying away with embarrassment, she continued down the hall, wondering which door led to a bathroom. One was slightly ajar, and she stepped tentatively toward it, nudging it open further. She peered into the dark room, reaching out to turn on the lights. No sooner had her hand flipped the switch than someone clamped down on her wrist and jerked her inward, throwing her roughly to the floor. She rolled quickly and stared up at her assailant in surprise.

He stood over her wearing a black ski mask, his eyes wide and gleaming eagerly, maniacally.

"We meet again, Kikyo," he smugly intoned, slamming the door shut behind him and twisting the lock in place. "Only you're _not_ Kikyo, are you?"

………

**A/N:** This chapter took forever to write, partly because my muse wanted to play with the next chapter instead. That should be out in a much more expeditious manner, though likely not nearly this long. Sorry. You win some, you lose some. In the meantime… um, review?


	10. My Enemy, My Friend

**Double Take** by The Committee

Disclaimer: _Inuyasha_ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, et al.

* * *

Chapter Ten—My Enemy, My Friend

* * *

"Only you're _not_ Kikyo, are you?" 

Kagome stared up at the looming figure, stunned by his words. He knew, she realized, but how he knew… She didn't have time to think about it, vaguely registering that he had pulled her into one of the family bedrooms—Eri's little brother's by the looks of the decor. Her mind was racing as she assessed her situation: no point in calling for help, because the music outside was too loud for anyone to hear; likewise for anyone overhearing a skirmish between her and her attacker and coming to the rescue. And if she wanted to escape, there was only the open window and a two-story plunge, or the locked door behind where the masked figure stood.

She was going to have to fight him.

He lunged toward her, and she rolled out of the way into a crouched position. Her assailant grunted mockingly, but was taken entirely by surprise when she leapt up at him, shoving him to the floor. She landed on top of him, her knee jutting into his ribcage as she slugged his masked face. Somehow, though, he got his legs beneath her and kicked her off, propelling her backward into a dresser.

Her back slammed into its wooden edge, but she refused to cry out in pain, refused to show any panic or fear to her attacker.

"Trying to take the offensive, I see," he sneered as he got to his feet. "This should be more fun than I anticipated."

Kagome paled when he flipped a switchblade out from the pocket of his dark jeans. She dodged as he swiped at her, taking the opportunity to side-kick him in the gut. Silently thanking her mother for those countless hours of combat training, she moved into a defensive stance, waiting for his next attack.

He swiped again, this time much quicker than before, and she didn't move quite fast enough. The blade grazed her cheek and in the back of her mind she registered a faint stinging, but she pushed the thought away, focusing on her assailant, leveling a high kick to his face. This took him by surprise, and he staggered backward but caught himself before falling.

He came back at her fearlessly, and she was able to block the blow with her arms and shove him back away from her. As he stumbled, she round-housed him nicely, sending him sprawling to the floor, the switchblade tumbling out of his hand and sliding underneath the dresser.

She had made him angry.

In the next few minutes, she learned that Kikyo's stalker was at least as skilled a martial artist as she was. The two of them went hand-to-hand, each deftly blocking the other's attacks before returning with their own. The masked man finally got tired of trying to best her skill, picking up a paperweight from the corner desk and hurling it at her. She ducked, but the next instant, he had leapt onto her, knocking her to the floor. His gloved hand shot toward her neck and—

"What the _hell_?"

They both froze and turned to see none other than Inuyasha standing in the doorway, staring at them with a slack-jawed expression. Never one to pass up an opening, Kagome took this opportunity to thrust the heel of her hand into the masked man's throat. He jumped back off of her, coughing and glancing quickly between her and the dark-haired boy in the doorway. As she leapt to her feet, he jumped through the open window without another word.

"Bastard," she growled, flinging herself at the sill and craning into the night to see the dark figure slinking away across the lawn, disappearing into a section of bushes. Apparently he knew how to jump out of a second-story window without getting hurt.

Her hand strayed to her neck where he had briefly gripped her—she wouldn't have any bruises there, at least, but if Inuyasha hadn't walked in at that moment, who knew?

Speaking of Inuyasha…

Kagome turned back into the room and saw that he was still standing in the doorway, staring at her with wide eyes. "How did you get in here?" she demanded, eyeing the hand still resting on the doorknob.

His gaze followed hers, and the dumbfounded expression on his face momentarily shifted into scorn. "Obviously I opened the door."

"It was locked," she blurted without thinking.

In response, he turned the knob then started playing with the lock on the other side. "Busted," he commented, showing that it had no effect on the latch from either position. Kagome could have kicked herself in that moment, feeling suddenly and irrationally foolish.

"Mind telling me what the hell just happened, Kikyo?" Inuyasha inquired, grounding her thoughts back to the situation at hand.

"None of your business," she snapped back.

"Are you all right?" The question took her completely by surprise, even more so because his voice held a strained note of concern in it.

"I'm fine," she grumbled, rubbing her arms. They would be sore tomorrow. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was looking for the bathroom."

She couldn't suppress the short, ironic laugh that bubbled up within her, remembering that had been her goal as well. "Well, this isn't it," she stated the obvious, "so keep looking." She turned her back to him, ignoring his presence in the vain hope that, for once, he would comply without argument. Crossing to the dresser in the corner of the room, she crouched down on hands and knees and fished out the lost switchblade.

"What's that?" Inuyasha asked over her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly as she pulled the knife out of its hiding place.

"I told you to leave," she stated, glaring at him as she sat down and flipped the blade back into its handle.

He ignored her, focusing instead on the switchblade. "Is that knife yours or his?"

Glancing down at the object in her hand, she said contemptuously, "It's not mine."

"Stupid," he pronounced. "Now you've gotten your fingerprints all over it. You should have left it for the cops to pull out."

"Who said anything about calling the cops?"

He had been squatting down, but now he dropped onto the floor next to her. "Kikyo, are you kidding? Some guy in a ski mask tried to cut you to ribbons and you're not going to call the cops?"

She snorted, adopting a tough-guy attitude out of sheer instinct. "Butt out."

"Well maybe Eri will," he retorted. "After all, it's her house the guy broke into, though I don't understand why he would try to burglarize it in the middle of a party. Unless he wasn't a burglar…" he added, thinking aloud.

"Eri's not about to call the cops in the middle of her own party," Kagome pointed out, "not with all the booze and revelry going on down there." Her hands were shaking, she realized, and she clasped them both around the switchblade to steady them, hoping that Inuyasha had not noticed the tremors. She needed to get out of here, needed to get back to her sister…

"You do realize that this could be the same person who attacked your precious boyfriend, don't you?" Inuyasha asked suddenly. The guilty look that flashed across Kagome's face said volumes, and he realized that he had hit onto something. "What's going on, Kikyo?" he demanded, the question urgent as a sudden alarm sounded in his mind.

Kagome scowled, hating the way her twin's name fell from his lips and hating herself for the confused emotions whirling around her right now. "Nothing," she lied. She started to stand, but he yanked her back to the ground. "Do you honestly expect me to confide in you, of all people?" she inquired with disbelief. "Just leave it alone, Inuyasha. It's none of your business!"

"You're bleeding," was his only response. He reached toward her left cheek, but she jerked away from him, her own hand straying to that spot, touching it lightly. Looking down at her fingertips, she saw a faint smear of blood. "It's only a scratch," she said indifferently, at the same time hoping her tetanus boosters were up to date. Who knew where that switchblade had been.

"Only a scratch," he repeated, frowning and fixing his narrowed eyes on hers.

He needed to leave, she realized, needed to leave so that she could compose herself, quiet the fear that had been fluttering around within her ever since she had been pulled into this room. She had suppressed it while fighting, but it was there now, surging up and taking control of her mind, and she could feel her body shaking with the aftereffects of shock. She had never before actually fought someone whose primary goal was to kill her, and her heart still raced from the thought that if her twin had come here instead of her, she would likely be dead.

And now after all of that, here next to her, too close for her comfort, sat Inuyasha—her sister's sworn enemy—staring at her with his expressive eyes and silently willing her to confide in him. Kagome had no personal grudge against him—any animosity she felt was entirely on behalf of Kikyo—and a detached part of her mind again vaguely wondered how she would have reacted to him if they had met under different circumstances.

"Go away." The command left her lips in a muted growl, the forceful tone her only means of preventing her voice from quaking uncontrollably. She was too close to tears, and she didn't feel like crying in front of him.

Like the stubborn jerk he was, he just shook his head firmly. "I don't think you should be alone."

His sincere and—in her opinion—misplaced concern cause something inside her to snap, and she lashed out at him, swinging one arm wildly as her face twisted with rage, the only refuge left to her. Inuyasha's reaction was quicker than expected though; he caught her intended blow and tugged her forward, holding her close to him, no doubt feeling her frame as it shuddered.

"Let me go," she feebly protested into his shoulder.

"You're being an idiot," he replied, his voice gruff, almost harassed. "You could have been killed."

"What do you care? We hate each other, remember?"

There was a long moment of silence, and then…

"I certainly tried to hate you," he conceded. What was he saying? Her mind felt overwhelmed, with too much to process in too little time, and she listened to him speak, only half-comprehending what he was saying. "I'll readily admit I've tried to hate you, Kikyo," he whispered quietly, still holding her tightly. "I even thought I had succeeded for a while there. But I'm not so sure any more. This last week…"

Reality hit her like a brick to the head. Here she was, in Eri's little brother's room, allowing Inuyasha—_Inuyasha_, of all people—to comfort her and listening to him confess something that he shouldn't be confessing, something she didn't want to hear from him. And in the meantime, Kikyo's stalker—_who knew she was not Kikyo—_had disappeared to parts unknown. Her sister was vulnerable, and she was being weak.

"This last week," he said again, faltering for the right words.

Before he could complete his thought, Kagome shoved away from him, staring wide-eyed at his face, but not truly seeing. "Inuyasha," she started to apologize, but the words caught in her throat.

A flash of regret crossed his features. "Kikyo, I…"

"I have to leave," she announced, panic welling up within her, screaming for her not to listen to what he was on the verge of saying. In an instant, she was on her feet, fleeing from the room, ignoring his cry for her to wait. He was on her heels as she thundered down the stairs, weaving her way between couples who were making out along the railing.

"Where are you going?" he demanded, catching hold of her arm.

"Home," came her curt response, all she could manage among the tumult of her own confused emotions.

"Alone?"

She stopped short and whirled on him, deeming anger to be her safest course of action. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You shouldn't go alone," Inuyasha retorted, raising his voice to be heard above the pounding music. People brushed past them on their way between the front room and the den. "That knife-wielder could still be out there! For all you know, he's lying in wait for you to come out so he can finish the job!"

She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off when Sango and Miroku materialized from opposite sides of the house. "What's going on?" the athletic beauty inquired of Inuyasha, casting a confused glance in Kagome's direction. Before he could answer, Kagome turned and stalked out the front door. Inuyasha scowled and followed her.

Sango frowned a voiceless question toward Miroku, who could only shrug. Curious, they both headed out the door as well.

"Stop following me, Inuyasha," Kagome commanded as she made a beeline to Kikyo's little white hatchback parked halfway down the street. Her eyes darted left and right, peering into the shadows as she moved forward, but she somehow doubted Kikyo's stalker would attack with Inuyasha trailing behind her. So he had some use, she grudgingly acknowledged. But still…

"I seem to recall that guy was on the verge of strangling you when I happened to appear," he pointed out, the memory rankling her, "and I doubt he was there to burglarize Eri's house, which means he either attacked you at random, or on purpose. And if he attacked you on purpose, he will probably want to finish the job."

"And what do you plan on doing about it?" she inquired shoving the key in the driver's side lock and yanking open the door.

Inuyasha crossed to the passenger-side door. "Safety in numbers," he replied, the clear logic only serving to annoy her further. "Now unlock this door."

"Go to hell." She settled into the driver's seat and started the engine. Before she could take off, though, he had planted himself in front of her car. Even in the tiny hatchback she was too close to the car behind her to back out of her space.

She irately rolled down the window and yelled, "Move!"

"Not until you unlock that door and let me in."

Kagome briefly considered her options. She could run him over, which was extremely tempting at the moment, or she could unlock the door and drive off as soon as he moved to get in.

It was a no-brainer.

She reached over and manually flipped up the door-lock. Inuyasha didn't move. "Well?" she prompted, becoming seriously annoyed.

"Keh. Do you think I'm stupid? Now either turn off the engine or open the door so I know you won't drive off as soon as I'm no longer in front of you."

Kagome ground her teeth together, trying to decide if she could manage driving off with an open door. There was no way she was about to let him ride with her. For his part, Inuyasha was being as stubborn as ever, refusing to give any ground in this fight.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?"

Miroku and Sango stood on the curb watching this little scene play itself out. Their friend looked over at them in surprise, then his face brightened. "Hey, Miroku, Sango! Climb in the back of Kikyo's car. She's giving us a ride."

"But I drove," Miroku started to protest.

"Just _do it_!" his friend barked, making both of them jump into action.

Kagome would have reached over and locked the door again, but Miroku got to it before she did. "Hello there," he said nervously as he leaned the passenger seat forward to climb into the back. She scowled blackly at him. "Sure is nice of you to offer us a ride," he smiled, bringing out his cheery, happy-go-lucky façade as he strapped on a seatbelt.

Sango climbed in next, apprehension and confusion plainly mingling on her features. She didn't say anything until she settled into the other corner of the back, at which point she yelped and clobbered a smiling Miroku for having "accidentally" placed his hand, palm up, right where she was about to sit.

"Stay on your side, pervert!" she cried, moving as far against the edge of the seat as she could and strapping on her seat belt.

A very smug Inuyasha was the last person in. He smirked triumphantly at Kagome as he repositioned the front seat and settled into it. She stonily ignored him in return, swerving off into the street the moment his door shut, before he even had time to put on his seat belt.

"I forgot you were such a maniac behind the wheel," he commented as he clicked the restraint into place.

"Nobody asked your opinion," Kagome practically snarled back at him. Still, she checked her temper and started driving like a normal, law-abiding citizen. Five years behind the wheel of her mother's getaway car had taught her to obey traffic rules unless breaking them was her only choice—no sense in calling attention to oneself with erratic driving.

"So, uh, where exactly are we going?" Miroku inquired from the back seat.

Kagome peered into her rearview mirror, briefly meeting his gaze, but she didn't answer. Inuyasha glanced over at her, then back at Miroku, silently indicating for him not to ask questions. Miroku in turn let out a heavy sigh as he settled against the back seat and resigned himself to simply enjoying the ride. At least he was sitting next to the beautiful Sango, even if she had scooted as far away from him as possible. Geo Prisms weren't that big, after all.

He sent a sly glance in her direction, though she was pointedly ignoring him. "You know, Sango," he said in what he considered to be a suave tone of voice, "seeing as how we're sharing a back seat, we should take advantage of the situation."

"Don't you dare," Kagome said coldly from the driver's seat before Sango could shoot him down. "I didn't invite you along, and you're certainly not going to use my backseat to have your own personal make-out session."

Sango was torn between an itch to slap the boy sitting next to her and an irrational desire to defy the girl behind the wheel. She didn't need Kikyo's help taking care of Miroku, she thought. And it wasn't as though they had wanted to come along anyway. Inuyasha had made them. This was all _his_ fault.

So she slapped him in the back of the head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" he demanded, turning to glare at her while simultaneously rubbing the injured spot.

"For making me get into a vehicle with a pervert and an über-bitch," she retorted.

The comment caused Kagome to laugh, much to the surprise of everyone else in the car. "Well said, Sango," she complimented the girl, keeping her eyes on the road. "Do me a favor and hit him once for me too."

"You're an ingrate," Inuyasha glared at the driver. "This is for your own good, you know."

"I didn't ask for your help," she answered icily, proud of how like her twin she sounded at the moment. "Now tell me where you want me to drop you off, because you certainly aren't coming to my house."

Sango and Miroku both looked to Inuyasha, who furrowed his brows. He hadn't thought this far ahead; he had just been worried about her safety and didn't think she should leave the party alone. Now that they were all piled into her car, though, he felt kind of foolish for having been so insistent.

"I guess you can drop us off at my place," he said reluctantly. He added to Sango and Miroku in the back, "My parents are out of town for the weekend, and my brother's probably holed up in his room, so we can do pretty much anything we want."

"Your house it is," Miroku shrugged carelessly.

Kagome felt somewhat relieved that she was getting rid of them so easily. "So how do I get there?"

Her three passengers gaped at her. "You've been there before, Kikyo," Inuyasha said slowly. "I haven't moved or anything."

"Look, just tell me the fastest way to get there from here," Kagome snapped, not wanting to deal with what she should and shouldn't already know. The night had gone too long already, and she needed to get back to the real Kikyo as soon as possible.

"Take a right at the next light," he said, casting a strange glance in her direction.

She followed his instructions, noting instinctively that the car behind her turned as well. "Now what?" she asked, her eyes glued to the rearview mirror.

"Go straight for the next few blocks. Your next turn is a left, but I'll tell you when we get closer."

Kagome signaled, checked her blind spot, and then changed lanes so she'd be ready to make the left. Her heart sank when the car behind her did the same. "Where's the turn?" she asked after another moment.

"Patience is a virtue," Inuyasha retorted, earning him a glare. "Next street," he added.

She pulled into the turn lane, watching as the car behind followed suit. As soon as she executed the turn during a break in oncoming traffic, she immediately put on her right turn signal and changed lanes, then pulled the car over to the curb, switching off her headlights.

"What are you doing?" Inuyasha demanded.

Kagome's eyes were fixed on her side mirror, watching as the suspicious car turned onto the same road. "I'm letting that car pass me," she said, never taking her eyes off of it. "It's been following me."

The car, however, didn't pass her by, but slowed down as it approached where they were parked. Kagome held her breath, then let it out in an frustrated sigh as blue-and-red flashed in the car's windshield and headlights. "You have got to be kidding me," she cried as the unmarked police car pulled up behind her.

"Do you always pull over to be ticketed before the cop signals you to?" Inuyasha inquired mockingly.

"Shut up," Kagome snapped. "I wasn't breaking any traffic laws. He has no reason to pull me over at all."

It seemed an eternity as they waited in tense silence for one of the two officers to exit the vehicle and approach. When the driver finally did, Kagome rolled down her window and looked up at him inquisitively. "Is something the matter?" she inquired with frosty politeness.

"Could you please step out of the vehicle?" the officer inquired. His partner had come around to the other side, tapping on Inuyasha's door and indicating him to do the same.

"Why should I?" Kagome asked, making Inuyasha freeze in the act of opening the door and stare over at her incredulously. "I wasn't breaking any traffic laws."

"Get out of the car," the officer said in iron tones, reaching through the open window to flip up her door-lock then yank the door open.

Kagome stepped out into the night, watching as Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku filed out on the other side of the Prism. "I'm afraid we're going to have to take you into custody," the officer said as he spun her around and pulled out his handcuffs.

She snaked out of his grip and backed away. "On what charge?" she asked angrily.

"This vehicle was just reported stolen."

"What! This car is not stolen! Ask those three! Check the registration! Here!" She pulled Kikyo's driver's license from her back pocket, thanking her stars that she had thought to grab it on her way out the door that evening.

The officer took the ID suspiciously. "Hey, Manten," he called to his partner, "what's the name on the car's registration?"

Manten looked up from telling the three other teens to stand with their hands on the car and their legs spread. He reached in to grab the car's registration from the glove box as Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango all looked at Kagome in confusion.

"Kikyo Higurashi," Manten read.

"Huh," said his partner, noting the name on the driver's license. "We still need to take you in for questioning," he pronounced, handing the ID back to Kagome. "This could be fake, you know."

"I don't believe this," she stated, practically quivering with rage. "I don't know who called in my car, but it was obviously a mistake!"

"Hey, Hiten," Manten called from the other side. His partner and Kagome both turned to look at him curiously. "Look what else I found in with the registration." He held out his hand, and in the pale light of the street lamps could be seen three small packets filled with a fine, white powder.

"That's good enough for me," Hiten said, whirling Kagome around and slapping handcuffs on her wrists. "You're under arrest for suspicion of car theft and drug possession. You have the right to remain silent…"

………

**A/N:** Well, it's nice that _someone_ is going to jail, right? …Right?


	11. Busted

**Disclaimer: I do not own _InuYasha_.**

* * *

_Double Take_ by The Committee

Chapter Eleven—Busted

* * *

He was taking a terrible risk. Instinct told him that the girl at the party could not be Kikyo – she had a different atmosphere around her than his ice queen, a more open, yet dangerous atmosphere. He had taunted her with his assumptions about her identity, but she had neither confirmed nor denied the charge. Her silence, the speed with which she had moved into a defensive stance, the determined expression on her face – all these could be seen as proof that his assertion was true, that she was not Kikyo. 

Then again, it could just mean that his Kikyo had been pushed one step too far.

He wasn't stupid. He knew there were two of them. But that knowledge had come from coincidence only, a chance glimpse of them both at school that morning, one leaving the girl's bathroom, followed only moments later by the other. The revelation had thrown him into chaos – who was this imposter that looked just like his Kikyo? For the latter part of the day his thoughts had been reeling between outrage and intrigue. Certainly no stranger should possess his Kikyo's cold beauty, but the allurement of identical twins…

He shuddered with longing, needing to know for certain. So he had done something stupid, something risky. He had gotten the police involved.

There was no assurance that they would intercept the party girl before she returned home. There was no assurance that her double would be residing in the Higurashi manor. And there was certainly no assurance that he could get close enough to find out. Before now, his surveillance of Kikyo's home was minimal – the grounds were patrolled by vicious dogs, and it was so much easier to skulk in the trees beyond the fence, armed with a telephoto lens, than it was to get up close and worry about being caught. But tonight his need outweighed the risks. Time was limited, especially if the police failed to waylay the girl—she _couldn't_ be Kikyo, could she?—from the party.

He shimmied up the high wall that surrounded the Higurashi estate, perching himself up top and peering across the wide lawn to where the house lay behind a second, lower fence some hundred meters away. Three razor-toothed hounds were loping in his direction already, dark shadows against the night-swathed grass. He could hear their growls and tensed, reaching for the package he clutched under one arm. He slid its contents out, weighing the moist slabs of beef in his hands before flinging them away onto the lawn.

The dogs veered, catching the scent of raw meat, snarling as they lunged for it. Knowing his time was limited, he sprang down from the fence and bolted toward the house.

Unfortunately, he had made a simple misjudgment. No sooner had his feet touched the ground than the dogs jerked away from their treat, snapping and growling as they scrambled toward him. Either the groundskeepers kept these animals very well fed, or they preferred the taste of man-meat.

Regardless, the intruder was left to claw his way back up the fence, yelping in pain as one dog sank its teeth into his ankle, tearing away part of his pant leg in the process. Several more dogs came running from various directions, barking and howling; two of them snapped up the remaining meat while the others clustered at the bottom of the fence, jumping and biting at the would-be trespasser.

His plans in ruins and his leg bleeding from the dog bite, he dropped to the other side in retreat. Apparently long-distance surveillance was to be his only option.

………

Kikyo looked up from her novel, a mad frenzy of barking dogs intruding upon her quiet solitude. Her eyes shifted toward the window, but the world outside was blocked by a heavy length of curtain, and she wasn't in the mood to investigate.

"Probably a squirrel," she shrugged, returning to her book.

………

Kagome kicked the bars of the holding-cell door with an angry grunt. They didn't move, and her foot hurt, but she felt a little better all the same as she returned to her pacing.

"That was pointless," Inuyasha muttered from behind her.

He lay sprawled on the only bed in the cell, while Sango and Miroku sat against the back wall, Miroku cradling his head from having just taken another beating from the athletic teen for yet another unwanted advance.

She shot him a withering glare and said, "I don't like being caged," before resuming her vigil back and forth alongside the wall of bars.

"I still don't understand why they arrested all of us," Sango spoke up miserably.

"Yeah," agreed Miroku. "Kikyo's the hopped-up car thief. What do they need with us?"

"'Hopped-up car thief.' Idiots," Kagome muttered. "Obviously whoever phoned in the car as stolen planted the drugs there as well, if they were even drugs at all. What is taking so long?" she added in a loud voice, directing her yell to the closed door behind which sat several detectives who worked the night shift.

The four teens had all been shoved into the back of the police car, despite the lack of safety belts, and taken down to the station while Kikyo's car headed off to the police impound lot to be more thoroughly searched and stored. At the station, the cops had confiscated everything from their pockets, including—much to Kagome's ire—the switchblade she had retrieved from under the dresser. Then they had fingerprinted everyone and sent them to this holding cell while they tried to cement the charges.

That had been two hours ago.

"My father's going to kill me," Sango intoned for probably the tenth time that night.

Kagome shot her a sympathetic glance, reflecting on how her own father would react when he found out about this. She had promised him she would stay out of trouble, and now here she was, right in the thick of it. He'd probably send her packing the minute he came home.

"You know, pacing's not going to get us out of here any sooner," Inuyasha drawled, one arm now lying across his eyes to block out the dim fluorescent lights.

She took the hint and flung herself down against the wall across from where Inuyasha lay. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she draped her arms across them and rested her head on top of that. Her right foot tapped against the floor in an agitated rhythm, almost eliciting another sour remark. Kagome's thoughts were a whirlwind, centered primarily around Kikyo – her twin was vulnerable right now and didn't even know it. Silently she prayed that Kikyo was safe, tucked indoors and reading a book as she had planned for the evening.

The outer door opened, and the four teens looked up to observe enter a woman who had previously introduced herself to them as Detective Nazuna, and whose generally stern expression did not denote a sympathy to their cause. In reality, she probably would have loved nothing better than to slap them all with homicide charges and lock them away for the rest of their lives. The keys to the cell jangled, hanging from a metal ring she had around her wrist like a bracelet. In her other hand she held a manila file.

"Higurashi?" she inquired sweetly, and Kagome jumped to her feet and crossed over to the bars, while everyone else sat up curiously.

"What is it?"

Nazuna had already slipped the keys from her wrist and was busy fitting one into the lock. "You're coming with me. We have a few questions for you."

Kagome spared a backward glance at the three teens behind her. "What about them?" she inquired, surprising herself at the worry apparent in her own voice.

The detective motioned her to step out of the cell while fishing around in one pocket. "They're free to go as soon as they call someone to pick them up," she said, producing a cell phone and tossing it to Miroku. "All the charges have been dropped. This way, please, Miss Higurashi."

She closed the cell door again and led Kagome out of the holding room, leaving behind three very confused teenagers.

"If the charges have been dropped, why do they want to talk to Kikyo?" Sango inquired, eyes fixed on the outer door that had just swung shut.

"Maybe they're trying to find out about that guy that jumped her tonight," Inuyasha suggested with a shrug. "Kikyo" had refused to speak of the incident, other than admitting that it had happened. "She's an idiot for keeping it from the police. If this is the same psycho that sent Koga and that other wench to the hospital, Kikyo's the third person that he's attacked. And she knows more than she's saying. What's this for?" he asked abruptly, turning to glare at the cell phone Miroku was holding in his face.

"We have to call someone to pick us up," came his friend's reply.

"Don't look at me," Inuyasha said, immediately holding up defensive hands. "I already told you guys my parents are out of town, and I'd rather rot here all night than call Sesshomaru to pick me up from a police station."

"My father's working tonight," Sango shook her head as Miroku instinctively turned her way. "Kohaku was spending the night at a friend's, so my house is empty."

"You didn't tell me that, my dear Sango," said the lecher, waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"Obviously, pervert," she retorted, eyes rolling skyward. "So I guess you'll have to call your guardian."

Miroku shifted uncomfortably. "Actually," he said with a half-apologetic face, "since it's Friday and after eleven, Mushin's probably passed out from drinking. He'll be dead to the world until tomorrow afternoon."

The three stared at one another dumbly.

"I am not calling Sesshomaru," Inuyasha stated firmly before either of his friends could even begin to coax him.

"If you don't, we'll be here all night," Sango protested.

"I'd rather suffer that than the smug look on his face," came the prompt retort.

"I guess we could just wait for Kikyo to get back and catch a ride with her," Miroku suggested crossing to the wall and settling down on the floor, eyes focused on the cell phone he still held. He punched a few buttons, then held it up to one ear, a small smile playing around his mouth.

"Who're you calling?" Inuyasha inquired suspiciously, but Miroku motioned for him to be silent.

"Hello, Domino's? I'd like to order six large pepperoni pizzas…"

………

"Well, you'll be glad to know we've confirmed the car wasn't stolen, and your 'drugs' turned out to be nothing more harmful than sodium bicarbonate—baking soda."

Kagome snorted ungraciously as she stepped into the interrogation room, noting the two-way mirror on the wall across from her. "I could have told you as much," she said. "In fact, I did, but you wouldn't listen."

"Well, we do have standard procedures here," Nazuna replied unrepentantly. "Such as running suspects' fingerprints. Have a seat, will you?" She smiled pleasantly as a slightly paler Kagome reluctantly took the chair indicated, facing her own reflection in the mirror.

"What's that got to do with anything?" she inquired with forced lightness.

"Your fingerprints don't match the ones we have on file for Kikyo Higurashi," the detective said bluntly, setting the manila file down on the small table and taking a seat across from her prisoner. "Now why would that be?"

"Why would you have them on file?" Kagome countered, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to conceal her disbelief. Kikyo had never so much as put a toe out of line—what were the police doing with her fingerprints?

"The elementary schools here have programs to ID every child, in case of kidnapping or something like that. And your fingerprints don't match the ones we took for Kikyo Higurashi eight years ago."

"Maybe someone mislabeled the card," Kagome stated calmly, quirking one eyebrow at the detective, all the while her insides fluttering like a million butterflies.

"That's entirely possible," the woman in uniform admitted. "But that doesn't explain this report from last weekend." She opened the manila file at last, extracting one page to hold back while turning the rest around and sliding it forward for Kagome to read. "You do remember this incident, don't you? 'Kikyo Higurashi, 17, victim of a violent assault on the evening of Saturday, March 19. Sustained a shallow knife wound just below her left ear and severe bruising on her throat, arms, and torso.' I must say, you've healed remarkably well," Nazuna added sarcastically.

"Thank you."

The detective bristled, leaning over the table to hiss, "You and I both know you're not Kikyo Higurashi. Why are you pretending to be her?"

"If you've figured out that much," Kagome replied, leaning forward herself and talking in a low voice, "I should think you'd be intelligent enough to put the rest of the pieces together. If I had injuries like these," she motioned to the open report, "I certainly wouldn't want to go parading them around in front of all my friends and classmates."

Nazuna leaned back in her chair, narrowing her eyes. "So it's a perfectly selfless reason you're masquerading as the daughter of a wealthy businessman?" she asked in disbelief. "Or perhaps you're perpetrating a fraud, perhaps you were the one to attack her in the first place, put her out of commission so you could play a little identity theft…"

"Don't let your imagination run away with you," Kagome interrupted sardonically, settling back in her hard metal chair and glowering across at the woman in uniform. "You don't have any proof…"

"We ran an international check on your fingerprints," Nazuna cut her off, pulling out the single sheet of paper she had originally held back.

Kagome felt the blood drain from her face. "You did what?"

The detective sitting across from her suddenly looked very smug as she set the page down on the table with a flourish, like someone playing the trump card of the game. "Surprisingly enough, we got ourselves a hit," she smirked, watching her prisoner's face very intently. "Istanbul, 2002. This is a copy of an arrest warrant for one Keiko Hisamatsu, issued for accessory to theft, abetting a known felon, and jail-breaking. In fact, if this little baby hadn't been repealed two weeks ago, I'd have slapped you in 'cuffs already and carted you off to the Feds. You sure move fast, don't you, Keiko? Only two weeks after playing your get-out-of-jail-free card, you're back to your old criminal tricks."

"For someone who does so much research, you certainly aren't very thorough, are you?" Kagome retorted with a glare. "My name's not Keiko Hisamatsu, and I'm not perpetrating a crime at the moment."

"Identity theft is a crime," answered Nazuna. "Giving the police false identity is also a crime."

"While we're at it," Kagome spoke up, "holding a minor without notifying her legal guardians is a crime. So is interrogating a minor without her legal guardians and/or lawyer present. And considering your original arrest was on less than solid grounds and the charges from said arrest have already proven to be false, I think I'm shaping up a fairly good court case at the moment, don't you?"

Nazuna shifted uncomfortably, but still wasn't ready to relinquish the upper hand. "We're going to charge you with giving false identity, Keiko…"

"My name's Kagome," she interrupted bluntly. "Kagome Higurashi, in fact. I'm Kikyo's twin sister. And I'm sorry for giving you false identity, but someone is apparently trying to kill my sister and if they catch wind that I'm pretending to be her, it'll only cause more trouble. Or hadn't you considered that conclusion in all of your research?" She let out a heavy sigh before adding, "My father is going to have a field day with this one."

Nazuna openly gaped at her before snapping her mouth shut and stating, "Kikyo Higurashi doesn't have a twin."

"I beg to differ," Kagome retorted. "And while we're on the subject, seeing as how she and I are identical, genetically we're the same person, so that brings into question whether I was actually giving false identity or not."

"In the eyes of the law you were," the detective retorted.

Kagome sat back in her chair with a glazed expression. "The law is such a subjective thing, especially when put in the hands of a crew of rabid, blood-thirsty lawyers like the ones my father employs…" She allowed her voice to trail off on those speculative words, watching from the corner of her eyes the policewoman's reaction.

Nazuna must have realized that she was on the losing end of the argument. She had just gone from saving Ryutaro Higurashi's daughter from a dastardly plot to setting her whole department against the eccentric multimillionaire. Not exactly a desirable position to be in…

"Fine," she ground out through clenched teeth, the words almost physically painful for her to speak. "You're free to go, _Kagome_, as soon as someone comes to pick you up."

………

With a certain amount of ill-concealed surprise, Kagome viewed the three teens still sitting in the holding cell. "What are you guys still doing here?" she demanded as Nazuna roughly shut the door behind her. "Hasn't your ride come to get you yet?"

"What ride?" Sango demanded in a dour voice. She had switched places with Inuyasha, now sprawled out on the bed while he and Miroku sat against the back wall. "None of us has anyone to call, since Inuyasha—" she cast a bitter glare in his direction, "—refuses to humble himself and call his brother."

"Keh," Inuyasha snorted.

"You mean you've been in here for the last twenty minutes, and you haven't called anyone?" Kagome inquired with an expression of disbelief.

"I wouldn't exactly say that," Sango growled, casting an irate glance toward Miroku.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said, thumping his perverted friend on the head and receiving a moan in response. "Miroku's already called to order pizza for Eri's party and take-out Chinese for the police station—it should be here in about ten more minutes. Then he just started calling random 1-900 numbers."

"Pervert," said Kagome.

"Serves him right," Sango said derisively. "He ended up phoning a C-SPAN poll." Miroku whimpered piteously, the memory of it still too horrific for him to bear.

"So what are you planning on doing about getting home?" Kagome inquired naively. The group turned their collective gaze upon her.

"Oh, no," she shook her head vehemently, realization dawning in her eyes. "Think again. You are not getting a ride with me. Inuyasha can call his brother."

"It's your fault we're even here," that teen threw back at her.

"It's your own fault, you jerk! No one told you to get in the car with me!"

"You wouldn't really leave us here all night, would you?" Sango spoke up, pleading in her voice. "I mean, I thought we were at least getting on civil terms this past week…"

Kagome wanted to deny them but found that the words just wouldn't cross her lips. Instead, her shoulders slumped in defeat. With a resigned sigh and a roll of her eyes, she snatched the cell phone from Miroku's slack grip and crossed to the far corner of the cell. Sango was right—she couldn't just leave them here, tempting as it may have been. She really didn't have any other choice before her but to provide them a ride. And she herself only had one person to call.

Reluctantly, she dialed Kikyo's private line, apprehension welling within as she waited for her sister to answer. To her utter relief, the other end picked up.

Inuyasha and Miroku left their cold spots on the cement floor to sit on the bed next to Sango, and the three of them watched the one-sided conversation in front of them with interest.

"Hello? Hey, it's me. Are you all right?" Kagome's eyes flicked over to the trio as she listened to the answer, before jerking to the wall, her attention snapping back to the phone conversation. "Where am I? I'm standing in a holding cell down at the fourth precinct police station. They pulled me in on suspicion of stealing a car." She jerked the cell away from her ear, wincing, and the three listeners heard an unintelligible yet unmistakably shrill protest from the person on the other end. Kagome pressed the phone to her ear again, mouth thinning. "No, I did _not_ steal a car! Geez! Why must everyone always assume the worst?" A frustrated sigh wrenched itself from her throat and she raked her bangs back with one agitated hand. "Someone reported the Geo stolen. Yes, I'm serious! Anyway, the charges were dropped, but I've got bigger problems. Has anything weird at all happened tonight?"

She started pacing, patently ignoring her three eavesdroppers, nodding her head once in relief. "That's good. Listen, do you think you can come pick me and a couple of other people up?" She paused momentarily before explaining, "Well, there are four of us here, and no one else has anyone to call for a ride home. Although, I suppose they could just stay here all night," she added, casting a malevolent glare back toward the group on the bed. They all looked back at her, wide-eyed. She returned to her conversation.

"Listen, just hurry, please? A lot has happened, and I need you to get me out of here as soon as possible. No, don't bother with a scarf—everything's been blown to hell." Pause. "I'll tell you when I see you—is there someone there that can make sure you get to the car all right? …Okay, okay! I'll stop with the mothering! Just hurry, then. …Uh-huh. Bye."

She turned off the cell phone and balanced it on one of the cell's cross-bars. "It should be about ten minutes," she said dully, settling herself down on the floor across from them.

"Who was that you called?" Inuyasha inquired curiously. It couldn't have been her father, he decided. And not Koga either—he was still in the hospital as far as Inuyasha knew.

Kagome merely rolled her eyes and turned away, ignoring his question. She hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them, her eyes staring into nothingness and her foot starting up its infernal tapping as if it had a mind of its own. She couldn't believe that her ruse had only lasted for a week, that her cover was about to be blown wide open to the three people Kikyo would least want to know. Of course, she reflected, how long had she expected that cover to last? Kikyo had to go back to school eventually. Her bruises had all but disappeared by now, and the cut on her neck was a fast-drying scab; the stitches were scheduled to be removed in another couple days.

Kagome absently reached up to touch her own cheek, where the assailant's switchblade had grazed her. She had been lucky. This cut really was nothing more than a scratch, just an inch long and barely affecting more than the first layer of skin. She wouldn't have a scar from it like Kikyo would. Something had to be done about her sister's stalker.

But she couldn't be the one to do it, she realized, especially not after tonight.

At long last, the outer door opened again, and an unknown officer stepped into the room bearing the four manila envelopes that contained their personal effects. "Your ride's here," he said, pulling out the key to the cell and unlocking the door. Kagome was first on her feet and out of the cell, snatching up her envelope with little more than a mumbled thanks and disappearing through into the police office as the others trudged forward.

"Hey!" she called catching sight of Kikyo standing in a small waiting area at the front of the station. Her sister turned to face her, a relieved smile on her face.

"You okay?" she asked sympathetically, pulling her sister into an embrace while Kagome shot a glare toward Detective Nazuna, who sat nearby, glowering at their reunion. "I had to explain to these officers who you were, and I called one of Dad's lawyers just to be on the safe side…"

"I'm fine," Kagome interrupted, impressed at her sister's efficiency, "though a little hassled. I'm really sorry about all of this."

"Don't apologize. No charges were officially filed, against me or you. I can't believe the Geo was reported stolen, though! They told me they're going to have to keep it at the impound lot overnight."

"Your stalker's getting more and more creative in his harassment."

Kikyo opened her mouth to respond, but stopped short as a very loud exclamation of "What the HELL?" echoed across the police station. Both girls turned to see Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango standing frozen in the middle of the room, staring at them with saucer-like eyes.

"Ha!" Sango crowed in vindication, all her suspicions suddenly validated.

"What are _they_ doing here?" Kikyo demanded of her sister accusingly.

"Long story." Kagome grabbed her twin and bodily propelled her to the exit. "Move it or lose it," she called to the others over her shoulder as she brushed past a Chinese delivery boy loaded down with several orders of Mu Shu Pork.

"You didn't say _they_ were the ones riding with you," Kikyo hissed as Kagome pushed her toward the SUV she recognized from their father's car collection. "What were they doing in my car?"

"I told you, long story. Now give me the keys so I can drive."

"No way! You've already gotten into enough trouble tonight."

"You drive like a maniac!"

"A maniac who's never once been pulled over by the cops!"

"Just give me the keys!"

"I'm driving! And I realize you can kick my sorry butt, but just remember that you besmirched my good name tonight, so you owe me!"

"_Besmirched_?" Kagome repeated, quirking an eyebrow and grinning wryly.

"Just. Get. In. The. Car. Same goes for you three, unless you want to stand in this miserable parking lot all night," Kikyo barked over at Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango, who had apparently found their legs again and followed the two sisters outside.

The minute they had all piled in and were safe behind the privacy of tinted windows, Kikyo jerked her seatbelt on and started the engine. "Explain. Now," she commanded her twin curtly.

Kagome turned to stare out the window sullenly. When she spoke, her voice had reverted back to its soft foreign accent. "What really is there to explain, Kikyo?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Wait a minute," Inuyasha spoke up from the back seat where he, Sango, and Miroku were sandwiched in. "If you're Kikyo, who the hell are you?" He pointed an accusing finger at the girl in the passenger's seat.

The two sisters exchanged a telling glance, and Kagome shrugged in resignation, turning back to stare out her window again.

"She's my sister, Kagome," Kikyo answered flatly. "My twin, actually."

"So she's been pretending to be you?" Sango inquired in confusion, looking between the two of them. "Why?"

"None of your business," both girls declared in unison.

"That was kind of creepy," said Miroku. "And since when have you had a twin, Kikyo?"

"Since the day I was born, idiot. That's how it works."

Stupid answer for a stupid question.

"Which one of you is older?"

"Kikyo," Kagome answered absently.

"By three minutes and forty-two seconds," her sister said triumphantly.

"So why haven't we ever seen you before?" Sango inquired of Kagome.

The twins exchanged another glance, wordlessly agreeing not to answer that question. "Why don't you just drop them off at Inuyasha's house," Kagome sweetly suggested to her sister. "Apparently you know where he lives—they nearly had a collective heart attack when I asked for directions."

"We're not going anywhere until we get some answers," Inuyasha spoke up, his arms crossed over his chest and a very stubborn look on his face.

Kikyo and Kagome glanced back at him, then at one another. "Back to our house, then," Kagome shrugged. "They can walk home from there. I don't have time to waste trying to shove them all out of the car."

"Well, do you have time to waste filling me in on what happened tonight?" Kikyo inquired sarcastically as she barreled through a red light. "I mean, I'd kind of like to know how I ended up in jail with these three yahoos, if that's not too much trouble for you."

"What was that term you used earlier, Sango?" Kagome inquired, turning with an innocent expression to look at the girl in the back seat. "Uber-bitch?"

Inuyasha and Miroku both suppressed snickers, while Kikyo reached over and lightly shoved her sister, shooting her a malevolent glare. "Start talking, Kagome. You may as well now as later."

Kagome made a face back at her twin. "Would you like the long version of the short?"

"Long, please. I already know the short version: all Hell's broken loose."

"Yeah, that about sums it. You buddy was at the party tonight, actually _at_ the party, hiding in one of the upper rooms. Lucky me."

Her sister stiffened, though she kept her eyes on the road. "What did you do?"

"What do you think I did? I fought the jerk. Masked coward," she muttered angrily. "He pulled a switchblade, which I knocked away, then he tried to choke me—"

One of Kikyo's hands had strayed to her own throat, remembering the crushing pain she had gone through a week ago. "He seems to like doing that," she said tonelessly. "How did you get away?"

"Inuyasha wandered in looking for the bathroom," Kagome said flatly, her own eyes firmly focused on her lap. "At that point, the freak jumped out the window. He probably went straightway and called the cops to report your car stolen."

"But why?"

"Because he knew I wasn't you, Kikyo. He said as much. And since you haven't been attacked, he was probably just trying to confirm it – I wouldn't be surprised if he was staking out the police station or something."

"You think he's following us now?" Kikyo asked, eyes shooting up to her rearview mirror.

"He's not," said Kagome. "I've been watching. My guess is he won't make another move tonight – he and I had a pretty good go at it." She spoke the words easily enough, but she didn't actually believe them. In truth, she was kind of surprised that Kikyo had remained unscathed thus far – the opportunity created had been substantial.

"So what you're saying is if it had been me I'd be long dead," Kikyo pronounced, not questioning her twin's assumption; her fingers brushed against the scab along her neck.

"If it had been you, you probably would have been down enjoying the party," Kagome responded evasively, feeling the truth of her sister's words. "Crowds of people make me nervous."

"Hmm." Kikyo turned the car down their driveway, pulling it neatly into its spot in the vast garage. As she turned off the engine, she favored her sister with a bright smile. "So you, like, didn't totally enjoy, like, your first, like, high school party?" she asked in her best impression of a valley girl, much to the surprise of the three in the back seat, who had only ever witnessed the serious Kikyo.

"My _last_ high school party," Kagome retorted, exiting the vehicle and slamming the door.

Kikyo scrambled out of the car to follow her sister, pointedly ignoring the three teens that tumbled out of the back seat and trailed behind her. "Kagome, wait up! What are you planning on doing now?"

Her twin paused so that she could catch up, and the two of them together turned to glare at Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango.

"Okay, that's a little intimidating," Miroku mumbled under his breath.

"Your house is that direction, Inuyasha," Kikyo said, helpfully pointing down the driveway to the gates.

He crossed his arms over his chest, determined not to be intimidated by a couple of girls. "I told you we weren't leaving until we got some answers," he said, eyeing them both, "and more than we could glean from your cryptic conversation back there. So what exactly is going on, Kikyo?"

The twins exchanged a telling glance. "What do you care?" Kagome asked levelly.

"Call it a soft spot for damsels in distress," Miroku volunteered.

"You might as well tell us," Sango added. "I mean, we've already found out so much. Besides, we would hate to resort to blackmail…"

"Blackmail?" Kikyo repeated sharply.

"I don't think the school administrators look highly on twins impersonating each other in classes," Sango said with off-handed innocence, examining her fingernails.

Kagome started laughing, while Kikyo merely sighed in disgust. "In the house," she muttered, grabbing her sister by the elbow and dragging her toward the front door. The three other teens followed with triumphant smiles, Inuyasha giving Sango a congratulatory high-five.

The house, as usual for a Friday night, was deserted, even more so because Ryutaro was still away on business. Kikyo and Kagome paused in the entryway. "Your room or mine?" Kikyo inquired speculatively.

"Mine," Kagome pronounced. "I need my laptop anyway."

Neither of them so much as looked back at the three interlopers as they led the way up the stairs and into the residential wing of the vast house.

Kikyo flipped on the light in Kagome's bedroom, noting that the place hardly looked like someone actually lived there. The bed was neatly made, the floor was spotless, and no clutter or knick-knacks marred the shelves. "You need to get some pictures on your walls or something," Kikyo suggested. "This place is so sterile."

"I'm looking into getting my hands on a Monet," Kagome responded brightly, crossing over to the desk where her silver laptop sat closed. "What do you think, _Bridge at Giverny_ on that wall over there?"

"You're so not funny," Kikyo retorted, plopping down on her sister's bed and motioning the others to just sit wherever. Sango took the only other chair in the room, leaving the two boys to pull up a piece of carpet.

Kagome didn't answer her, too busy starting up her computer. Kikyo rolled her eyes and shrugged, turning away to face the others. "So you want answers," she prompted sullenly. "What are your questions?"

"First off, where did she come from?" Miroku spoke up, pointing to Kagome.

Kikyo smirked. "I would have expected someone as perverted as you to have had the 'birds and bees' talk a long time ago, Miroku. You see, when two people love each other very much…"

"That's not what I meant," the lecherous teen interrupted with a scowl, and no one quite understood why he was suddenly blushing. "You know that's not what I meant! Where has she been before now, or did she suddenly appear out of thin air? Why is it no one knew you had a twin?"

Kikyo and Kagome exchanged a glance, and the latter pronounced, "I think we should leave me out of this," before turning back to her computer screen.

"We can't leave you out! You're in!"

"It's your story they're here to hear, not mine."

"What if we want to hear both?" Inuyasha inquired suddenly.

"Tough luck," said Kagome. "Kikyo's the only one you have any worthy blackmail evidence on. You've got nothing that'll hurt me."

"Thanks for the solidarity, sis," Kikyo said sarcastically, receiving an innocent smile from her twin in return.

"Fine," Inuyasha grumbled. "So spill it, Kikyo. Who was that guy attacking you—I mean her—tonight?"

"I don't know who he is," she grudgingly admitted, settling back against Kagome's headboard and hugging a pillow to her chest. "Someone's been calling my house for the past few weeks. At first, he would just hang up, but then I stopped answering. So then, he started slipping notes into my locker at school and leaving messages on my answering machine—threats, insinuations, whatever. He got jealous when he saw me with Koga, and cut the brake-line to his car, but luckily Koga wasn't severely injured. Then, at the end of Spring Break, I went to that party at Yuka's house, and when I left to go home, he… he…"

"You don't have to give them any details, Kikyo," Kagome interrupted gently, noting the trembling that had entered her sister's voice. "He roughed her up," she told the others in a flat voice, "but she got away mostly unharmed, thanks to the cops that had shown up to break up the party. For once policemen proved useful."

Kikyo smiled gratefully at her twin, who nodded encouragingly and turned back to her computer, typing quickly. "By that point," she continued, regaining her composure, "Kagome had already shown up here, and I don't remember who suggested that she take my place at school—"

"It was Dad," Kagome supplied, attention still fixed on her laptop.

"—but we decided to do it," Kikyo finished. "I was too bruised to show up without having some teacher suggest child abuse, and Kagome was going insane with boredom holed up in the house, so it was the best of both worlds. Everything from then on, I guess you know, since you were actually at school with her and I was sitting here at home."

"You know," Miroku spoke up brightly, "this last week really does make a whole lot more sense now that we know Kikyo has a twin."

"Yeah," Sango agreed. "But what can be done about this stalker of yours, Kikyo? Have you called the police?"

Kikyo snorted ungraciously. "I had to file a report after the attack, but nothing more. They don't know about the phone calls or the notes. And they won't know, either."

"Why not?"

"Because Higurashis don't go to the police. The police ask too many questions and demand too many bribes."

"That's just plain stupid," Inuyasha said flatly. "The police could set up a trace for those phone calls you've been getting, as well as offer you protection from this psycho."

"Kagome already traced the calls," she retorted with a sidelong glance at her sister. "They come from phone booths all over the city. The guy covers his tracks fairly well."

"So you're just going to sit back and wait for him to kill you? That's a great plan, Kikyo," Inuyasha pronounced sarcastically.

"Well at least then _you_ would be happy," she retorted.

"Play nice, children," Kagome murmured from the corner.

"What exactly are you doing over there?" Kikyo demanded, turning an irate glare on her sister, which went entirely unnoticed.

"I'm checking flight itineraries."

"You're leaving again?" A note of panic had entered her voice, and she suddenly realized how much she wanted her sister to stay. After only two weeks she had gotten used to having her there. Truthfully, she had gotten used to it after only a day.

"I may not have a choice," Kagome grumbled. "That sadistic detective ran an international check on my fingerprints."

"So what? If she had found anything incriminating, she wouldn't have let you go."

Kagome smiled half-heartedly at her sister, fully aware of their captive audience. "It's not for me that I'm checking flight itineraries, Kik. I'm just making sure no one else is coming here. Those people I told you about monitor the Interpol networks, so if they were paying attention tonight, it's possible they found out where I am."

"But you're not even sure they're looking for you," her twin replied.

"That's right. So don't worry, okay?" She smiled as though she didn't have a care in the world, but her eyes said otherwise, and Kikyo knew it.

"I don't want you to leave again. This is your home, Kagome."

"We'll discuss it later," she said with a significant glance in the direction of the three interlopers.

"I think you've all had enough of an explanation," Kikyo stated firmly, turning to glare at her three enemies. "Time for you to say good-bye."

The trio exchanged glances, mutely communicating the same thought. "I don't think we should leave you two alone here, given what you've told us," Miroku said, acting as the spokesperson.

"Nothing else is going to happen tonight," Kagome retorted from her corner. "That jerk is probably off licking his wounds and recuperating for the next time. Besides, we can take care of ourselves."

"You've shown that," Inuyasha voiced sarcastically.

Both girls bristled, but Sango interrupted before either of them could spout their acidic protestations. "Let's not argue, okay? Inuyasha, Miroku, and I just want to help you two out. I mean, what can it hurt? You've already told us what's going on. And besides, I would think you would welcome anyone to stay with you, since this huge house seems to be completely devoid of life. The more the merrier, right?"

The twins frowned at one another, hesitating, which obviously meant that they were going to give in.

"Is anyone else hungry?" Miroku suddenly asked.

………

"So, Kagome," Sango said slowly, holding onto a steaming bowl of ramen as she sat down at the kitchen counter, "where'd you learn to speak French?" They were all there, gathered around the stove or the counter, having scoured the kitchen and found several packets of ramen. Kikyo wasn't sure why it was there or how old it was since she and her father never ate it, but Inuyasha had acted like it was manna from the gods and insisted on cooking it up. At least it was easy to make.

"France," came the curt answer.

"You lived there?"

Kikyo looked sharply at her sister, who didn't need the warning glance to know she needed to watch what she said. "For about two years," Kagome nodded slowly. "Paris, then Toulouse, and finally Marseille."

"I can't help but notice you have sort of a British accent," Miroku spoke up, slurping some of his noodles. "Did you live there as well?"

"Yeah, I was in London for four years. Right after our parents' divorce. I guess I was still young enough for the accent to rub off on me."

"You didn't tell me you lived in London," Kikyo interrupted, blowing on her steaming cup of soup. "I'm jealous."

"Akemi had a flat there," Kagome nodded, her eyes getting a faraway look in them. "I went to school at this little private academy while she would disappear for days on end, leaving me with her crazed housekeeper, Florence." She laughed suddenly. "That woman made Mrs. Danvers seem sane."

No one knew what she was talking about, but she didn't seem to mind. She even seemed to forget that they were there altogether. Kikyo hadn't wanted her to talk about her past before, and Ryutaro had only wanted to know the sordid side of it. Kagome had some good memories too, though, and they chose this moment to come flooding back to her. She smiled fondly down at her ramen, lost in her own thoughts.

"So France came after London?" Sango prompted, glancing at Miroku and Inuyasha in her periphery. They were both intently waiting for the answer, quietly allowing her to interrogate.

"Hmm," Kagome mused with a frown, ticking off places on her fingers, "It went London, then Copenhagen, then Paris, Toulouse, and Marseille." She blew out a heavy sigh before adding, "Then Istanbul, Moscow, Singapore, Tokyo, Kyoto, Berlin, Munich, Florence, and finally Rome."

"You moved around a lot, I guess," Miroku said perceptively.

"You could say that," came her dry response.

"Does that have anything to do with why Interpol would have your fingerprints?" Sango asked.

Kagome's mouth opened, and she suddenly realized that over the course of the evening, she had said too much. Her sister glanced in her direction. Kagome shrugged, slurping a ramen noodle with an air of nonchalance.

"Yes or no?"

"She doesn't have to answer," Kikyo broke in, defensive. "Kagome's past is none of your business—any of you."

"Sounds like someone has something to hide," Inuyasha asserted.

"Doesn't everyone?" Kagome spoke, her insouciance still as strong as ever. "Besides, it's in the past – Akemi was the one they really wanted."

"Akemi, she's you're mother?" Miroku inquired.

Both Kagome and Kikyo nodded, exchanging a somber glance.

"Wait a minute," Sango intoned in a hollow voice. "You don't mean Akemi Takeshi, do you? The White Lotus?" Kagome's eyebrows arched in surprise and Kikyo nearly choked on her ramen.

"Who's that?" Inuyasha asked in confusion.

Sango turned wide eyes on him. "She's a cat burglar—was a cat burglar, and one of the best. According to reports, she'd successfully pillaged from every major museum in the world, as well as some of the most famous private collections. But she was shot and killed a few weeks ago during an attempted arrest. In Rome," she added, turning her gaze back to Kagome.

That person had adopted her trademark calm-in-the-face-of-fire façade, watching the athletic beauty with seemingly nothing more than mild disinterest.

"That was your mother?" Sango asked.

Kagome's face remained impassive. "Last I checked, the White Lotus was never officially identified," she commented; next to her, Kikyo pointedly avoided eye contact with the three inquiring teens.

"So you're her missing accomplice," Sango concluded in awe.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kagome shrugged in feigned innocence. "Officially I've been living here for the last three years. And how do you know so much about international criminals, anyway?"

"My father works for the CIA."

Bits of half-chewed ramen and broth sprayed out across the counter as Miroku spluttered in surprise. "Sango!" he protested in an injured voice while everyone turned to glare at him, "you've always told me your father was a security guard!"

"Well, I'm not exactly supposed to spread the word that he's a spy," she retorted.

"Huh. CIA," said Kagome thoughtfully, more to herself than anyone else. "I didn't know they were keeping tabs on Akemi."

"I shouldn't know that they were," Sango admitted. "There was a blurb in the papers a couple weeks ago about the White Lotus, and I just remember my father making some off-hand comment about having lost another potential lead. I found a file about her on his desk the next night – that's how I learned her name."

Kagome nodded slowly, mutely digesting this information.

"So you were her partner in crime?" Inuyasha spoke up, looking pointedly at her.

Her eyes widened innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about. Do you know what he's talking about, Kikyo?"

Her twin took the hint, her own expression mirroring Kagome's. "No, I don't have the faintest clue," she shrugged impassively.

"Hey, Sango," Kagome changed the subject, much to his ire, "your father works in the CIA? What's that like?"

"I'm not really supposed to talk about it," the athletic teen said hesitantly, twirling a loose lock of hair around her index finger. "In fact, I'm really not supposed to know as much as I do."

Kagome shot her a sympathetic look before turning to her next inquiry victim. "And Miroku, you live with a guardian? What's he do?"

"Believe it or not, he's a man of the cloth."

It was Kagome's turn to look dumbfounded. "But I thought you said earlier he was drunk as a fish tonight," she protested feebly.

Miroku shrugged. "He'll be sober by Sunday."

"Right." She dragged the single word out so that it sounded like a condemnatory rebuke, but it didn't seem to faze the lecherous teen at all. "And what about your parents, Inuyasha?"

"Dad's a military man, Mom's a lawyer," he answered tersely.

"What type of lawyer?"

"Criminal defense."

"So I know who to call if I ever—

"Kagome," Kikyo interrupted, an edge to her voice.

"I was kidding," she raised her hands defensively and stepped back. "I would never dream of breaking the laws of this great nation." Her sister still wore a stern expression, at which she laughed lightly and looked to the door. "You know, I think I need to go check that report I left running on my laptop," she said weakly, and bolted from the room.

"Your sister's a wanted criminal," Miroku stated as soon as the door had shut.

"No, she's not," Kikyo snarled, making them all jump back a step. "And if any of you so much as insinuates that she is, you will dearly regret it!" She took a moment to calm her frazzled nerves, closing her eyes and breathing slowly, before saying, "And now I'm going to go to bed. I don't care what you three do, as long as it takes place nowhere near my room and doesn't involve anything destructive."

"Take all the fun out of life, why don't you?" Inuyasha muttered as she headed out the door, earning himself one final death-glare.

"I don't know about you two," Miroku spoke up in the silent aftermath of the twins' exit, "but I like Kagome a whole lot better than Kikyo. Especially now that she's not pretending to be her."

"You said it," Sango agreed. "Kikyo's scary."

"Feh," said Inuyasha, still staring at the closed door. "Kikyo's all bark and no bite. And I have the sneaking suspicion that her sister is the exact opposite."

"All bite and no bark?" Miroku said speculatively. "I could see that. Yeah, she seems like the type. So how about we go see what the Higurashi DVD collection holds?"

………

Somehow they had found the entertainment room in the vast, sprawling mansion. Actually, Miroku had practically led them straight to it, even though this was the first time he had ever set foot in Kikyo's house. "Entertainment rooms are typically tucked away at the back of the house," he had shrugged as he flipped on the light to reveal a wide room stocked with the latest stereo and TV equipment, as well as a multitude of DVDs and a couple very comfortable-looking sofas.

They had hemmed and hawed over which movie to watch, ignoring the fact that it was already past one a.m. and they probably should have been going to sleep. The DVD they finally chose had been selected at random by Miroku after Inuyasha declared that he didn't really feel like watching a movie at all. An hour later, Sango and Miroku had fallen asleep—or to be more precise, Sango had fallen asleep, inadvertently using Miroku's shoulder as a pillow, which meant that even though he was still awake, he would sooner die than move. He sat with one arm around her, for once not taking advantage of her close proximity to grope her.

Finally having had enough, Inuyasha stood and stretched, casting a glare first at the plasma TV, then at his two friends. Miroku's brows arched, but he said nothing as his friend turned to leave the room.

"Don't do anything perverted," Inuyasha warned from the doorway.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Miroku replied innocently. "It's no fun if she's not awake to react."

His friend shook his head and left the room, wondering if Miroku was a masochist or something. Apparently he enjoyed being thrashed by Sango.

Miroku himself just tightened his hold on the girl and closed his eyes, determined to enjoy the moment, since he imagined he'd pay dearly for it when Sango woke up. He was asleep before long, and the movie continued playing in the background.

Inuyasha wandered aimlessly down the darkened hallways, feeling restless rather than tired. It was two-thirty in the morning, but he just didn't feel like going to sleep: he had too much on his mind.

The past few days he had been fighting an internal battle, his long-forgotten feelings for Kikyo trying to revive and his mind ruthlessly trying to squash them back down into oblivion. He had finally given in to his heart against his better judgment—only to discover hours later that it wasn't Kikyo at all. It was her sister, Kagome, whom he had never even known existed. She had been the one to reawaken those feelings this past week, not Kikyo. So that meant that he wasn't falling for Kikyo again.

That, at least, was something of a relief.

But did it mean that he was falling for Kagome?

His shook his head to clear his thoughts. He didn't even know Kagome, the girl with the shady past—the vast majority of time he had spent with her, she had been pretending to be Kikyo, not herself. And yet despite that, he now realized, her own personality had manifest itself. She had merely laughed in situations where Kikyo normally would have been offended, and her smile was untainted by the somber sorrow her sister always seemed to carry. How had she done that, he suddenly wondered to himself. How had she smiled as if she didn't have a care in the world, when the events of tonight had proven otherwise?

Inuyasha stopped abruptly, looking at his surroundings. He had allowed his feet to take him wandering as he mused, and he hardly remembered how he had ended up here, on the second floor, halfway into the residential wing. He didn't know which room was Kikyo's, but he recognized Kagome's up ahead, where the door was slightly ajar and a shaft of yellow light spilled out into the corridor. The silence of the house was disrupted by a faint shuffling noise.

He approached the room slowly, careful not to make any sounds. Kagome was obviously still awake, and he felt a slight pang of guilt for trying to spy on her, but his curiosity far outweighed that. What would she be doing up at this hour, he wondered inwardly, ignoring the hypocrisy of that speculation.

Through the crack in the doorway he saw her cross from the closet to the bed, where she placed whatever it was she had been carrying into a mid-sized black duffel bag. Unaware of his presence, she shifted from one foot to the other and sighed, casting her glance around the room, checking to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

"Going somewhere?"

His voice made her jump, startled, and she whirled to the now-open doorway, favoring him with a guilty expression. "You're still awake?" she managed in a small voice.

Inuyasha's brows arched as he stepped uninvited into the room, hands buried in his pockets and an unapologetic look on his face. "We were watching a movie downstairs, but I got bored," he shrugged. "So where is it you're taking off to?" He eyed the black duffel with sudden distaste, as though it were a bitter enemy.

Kagome followed his gaze. "Nowhere yet," she said quietly, zipping the bag shut to hide its contents. "It's just a precaution. Just in case."

"Just in case what?"

Her eyes flew to his face and her brows furrowed in a frown. "In case I need to leave, obviously."

"The cops are on your tail?" He hadn't meant for a sneer to creep into his voice, and he mentally kicked himself even as he leveled a flat gaze at her.

Much to his surprise, she sank onto the bed with a faint smile and stated, "No, the cops aren't on my tail. The authorities have been dealt with already. So what are you doing up here?" she abruptly changed the subject.

"I was sort of just wandering," he admitted with a shrug, deciding not to pursue their previous topic of conversation, "and I saw your light on."

Kagome nodded knowingly, then looked up at him, waiting for him to say something further. An awkward silence followed, with Inuyasha shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"Listen," he said, hesitation thick on his voice, "about tonight—at the party, I mean, after—" He paused, unsure of whether to continue or not, but she merely watched and waited for him to speak. "Maybe it would be better if you didn't tell you sister," he finally blurted.

"Oh, about that," she nodded, and Inuyasha was almost certain a faint blush stole across her cheeks. "Don't worry. I didn't intend to."

"Oh. Well, good."

"Yeah, I figured it would be better not to confuse her," Kagome said, turning to her bedside table to open the drawer. She pulled out a couple of small notebooks, glanced over them, then tossed them on top of the duffel bag.

"What do you mean, confuse her?" Inuyasha inquired with a frown.

Her gaze met his again, candid and open. "Kikyo's very happy in her relationship with Koga," Kagome stated plainly, "bewildering as that may be. It would only confuse her to hear that you were about to declare your undying love for her."

"I wasn't—!" Inuyasha protested, feeling sudden indignation even as his cheeks flamed red. "I wasn't about to declare my 'undying love'! Your sister and I hate each other! Besides, _you_ were the one I was talking to."

"But you thought I was Kikyo, so it's the same thing." She had stood again and turned away from him so that he couldn't see the expression on her face. Her voice certainly sounded cool and logical enough.

"I'm not so sure it is," he said staunchly, crossing his arms over his chest. His comment earned him a surprised look from her, though that emotion was quickly replaced with skepticism.

"Of course it is," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "In your mind you thought I was Kikyo, so whatever you were going to say was meant for her ears. I was just the proxy."

"Except that you were the one I was interacting with all week, so you were the one that made me confused enough to start that stupid conversation with your sister in the first place. Wait, that's not right—" He broke off, rubbing his forehead with one hand and feeling a sudden headache coming on. "You know what I mean," he finished lamely.

Kagome frowned and folded her arms in much the same manner he had. "Well, like I said, it doesn't matter – I don't intend to tell Kikyo about it either way."

"Fine," he pronounced, feeling like a fool.

"Fine," she repeated with a nod, seeing the issue as closed. Oddly enough, she did not feel in the least satisfied with the outcome. She turned away, busying herself with the task of packing a few little odds and ends.

"You're nothing like your sister," Inuyasha blurted, hardly knowing what he was saying. "Even when you were pretending to be her you were nothing like her."

Kagome froze, eyes wide and lips parting in surprise at his words. Then, "You don't know me," she uttered in a low voice.

"That's true, but I do know that you're not nearly as cold-hearted as your sister," he responded, feeling the sudden need to pick a fight.

His baiting worked. "Kikyo's not cold-hearted," Kagome countered hotly, whirling to glare at him.

Inuyasha snorted. "Oh, please! She's got her little in-crowd, and everyone else is dog-meat as far as she's concerned. She's a regular snob."

"That's not true! She may be a little reserved, but that's just a personality trait, not because she thinks she's better than everyone else. And you can hardly expect her to give you the time of day, after that whole bet thing!"

Inuyasha threw his hands up in exasperation. "There never was a bet!" he cried. "And if your sister hadn't been so ruthlessly stuck-up, I would have told her as much!"

"What do you mean, there never was a bet," Kagome demanded with narrowed eyes. "From what I understand, plenty of people overheard you."

A frustrated sigh wrenched itself out of his throat. "You want to know the truth? Miroku found out I liked your sister, and his comment was, 'You could never in a million years get her to date you! I'd bet you a hundred dollars on it!' It was a stupid off-hand remark, which I ignored at the time. There was never any hand-shake, or agreement of terms, or behind-the-back snickering. I asked Kikyo out because I wanted to, not because I had some macho male ego to prove. But of course somehow an exaggerated account got around to her ears, and she completely overreacted, never allowing me a chance to defend myself!"

Kagome's expression had considerably softened, even though she wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. "You're still bitter," she observed quietly.

"Of course I'm still bitter!" he retorted with a glare. "The whole school found out! Do you realize that every girl I asked out for a straight year afterwards demanded to know, joking or otherwise, whether I had made a bet about her too? I've had that incident thrown in my face more times than I can count, and I didn't even do anything wrong!"

She was torn between pity and ridicule. After all, it was only high school. "Poor baby," she murmured sarcastically with a shake of her head and a ghost of a smile on her lips. "Life's just hard all over, isn't it?"

Inuyasha, realizing he was being mocked, scowled back at her. "You could try to show a little compassion," he grumbled. "High school's not exactly a picnic, you know."

"I wouldn't know, actually," Kagome retorted. "My mother decided I should get my education elsewhere. About the time you were feeling so rejected, I was probably crawling my way through some filthy ventilation duct to override a security surveillance system."

"Life's just hard all over," Inuyasha drawled laconically.

Kagome smiled brightly, but whatever she was about to say died on her lips as her laptop emitted a high-pitched chirp. She turned quickly to the machine in the corner of the room, but not before Inuyasha saw her expression change to one of anxiety. He cautiously followed her, staying far enough back so that she wouldn't note his approach.

"Damn," she muttered as she bent to look at the report on the screen. "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn."

"Something go wrong?" he asked from over her shoulder.

Kagome jumped slightly, casting an irate glance back toward him. "It's nothing," she said, abruptly snapping her laptop shut.

"Nothing, huh? So who's this Kagura Sugisaki?" It was the name highlighted on her computer screen, on what seemed to be an itinerary for a flight from Tokyo to D.C.

"Mind your own business," Kagome retorted, already stashing her laptop into the black duffel bag. She snatched up one of her notebooks and tore a sheet of paper from it, then crossed over to her desk where she began to write.

Inuyasha had the sneaking suspicion that it was a farewell letter.

"You're just going to leave?" he asked, brows furrowed. "You're not even going to wake her up to say goodbye?"

"It'll be easier this way, for both of us," Kagome murmured, more to convince herself than anything else.

"I don't think your sister would agree," came his response. "In fact, I seem to recall her saying she didn't want you to leave at all."

"I have to go. My being here puts her in danger."

Inuyasha frowned, contemplating. "Did you ever consider that your leaving might put her in even more danger?" he inquired, dropping down to sit on the bed, his eyes watching her closely.

Kagome's scribbling arrested mid-sentence. "What do you mean?" she inquired, her eyes staring blankly at the half-written note in front of her.

"Well, if whoever's looking for you comes here and finds Kikyo… I mean, you two are identical, after all—who knows what they'll think. Or do."

Her stricken eyes flew to his face. "You think they'll mistake her for me?"

"Why not? You've been masquerading as her all week, and no one knew the difference. Besides, weren't your fingerprints taken under her name?"

Kagome had paled considerably. "I don't know. That detective had decided I wasn't Kikyo, so maybe they were run anonymously. I don't know how the system works."

"Well, you might want to look into that, because if these people have your prints and Kikyo's name, I can pretty much guarantee they're going to jump to conclusions. What happened anyway? Did your mom double-cross some business associates that want revenge?"

"Nothing so dramatic," Kagome almost smiled. "She just raided the wrong coffers, that's all. And her victims would like their property back."

"Can I ask what she took?"

She almost told him to mind his own business again, but at this point she supposed it didn't matter. It was too early in the morning for her to be thinking clearly anyway. "It was a pink diamond called the Shikon no Tama."

"Are you kidding?"

"You've heard of it?"

Inuyasha stared at her wide-eyed. "Of course I've heard of it! It belonged to my ancestors a few centuries back—my grandfather used to go on about the stupid thing, how it brought good fortune to us, and how it should still be rightfully ours if some drunk-of-a-great-great uncle hadn't used it in a high-stakes game of cards. But I thought it was stolen out of a museum or something years ago."

"It was," Kagome nodded, feeling a little overwhelmed at his revelation. "About twenty years ago. But my mom's father used to tell her stories about it as well, so she was kind of obsessed with it. She tracked it down and swiped it from the collector that had acquired it."

"And who might that have been?"

No point in keeping secrets now. "He's the leader of a yakuza called the Onigumo, goes by the name of Naraku. Kagura's one of his henchmen, and according to the information I have, she's his daughter as well. And she's so conveniently heading in this direction, which is why I should be fleeing for my life."

"Leaving your sister to take the blame!" he finished cheerfully.

Kagome blanched visibly. "It's not like that," she protested. "I can leave a paper trail behind me before I disappear completely."

"And just hope that they follow it rather than coming straight here and offing off your sister."

"You're not helping!"

"I'm trying to talk some sense into you!"

"What would you know about sense?" she retorted sarcastically.

Inuyasha snorted. "A lot more than you, apparently, seeing as how you're the one that's ready to take off into the middle of the night, leaving behind your sister and friends to worry about you!"

Kagome's mouth opened, then closed again in much the same manner as a fish out of water. "Are we friends?" she inquired in a very small voice, a perplexed expression on her face.

"Keh. Of course we are," he answered cavalierly as he shoved his hands into his pockets, a little uncomfortable at this sudden turn of conversation. He wasn't really big on define-the-relationship talks, and he'd already had one with her tonight. Sort of. "Why would Miroku, Sango, and I give a rat's ass about whether or not you got slashed by some psycho if we were enemies?"

"But you're still enemies with Kikyo?" she queried uncertainly.

"I think we have a sort of unspoken treaty at the moment," he shrugged. "She's certainly been as hostile as ever."

"She's just afraid of getting hurt," Kagome said softly, her eyes becoming unfocused, staring into nothing. "She's afraid of people leaving. I shouldn't have come here. Everything would have been fine if I had just found somewhere else to hide out."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I think these early-morning hours are messing with your mind. You seem to have forgotten a certain psychotic stalker who tried to kill you tonight. Kikyo would have been no match for him at all. So unless your definition of 'fine' includes a dead twin, everything would not have been fine if you weren't here."

"You think she'd be dead?" she demanded, stricken.

"Don't you?"

She mutely nodded, turning back to the unfinished letter on her desk. Picking up the sheet of paper, she crumpled it into a ball and weakly tossed it in the direction of the garbage can, missing by fully three feet.

Inuyasha scoffed. "That was a crummy throw. Maybe you should get some sleep—you know, build up your strength again." He stood up and walked to the doorway, but turned around before he left the room.

"You still going to be here come daylight?"

Kagome met his gaze and bobbed her head solemnly.

"Good. It'll save us all the trouble of tracking you down."

………

**A/N:** It's the chapter that ate up Tokyo! Honestly, this thing is forever long, but I just couldn't find a good place to divide it. So, super-long chapter! Sorry.

Many thanks to all reviewers. I have so much fun reading your comments!


	12. Breakfast Among Friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own _InuYasha_.**

* * *

Chapter Twelve—Breakfast among Friends

* * *

Click.

Click.

Sango stirred as she started to wake up, feeling oddly secure and warm, though she wasn't exactly in the most comfortable position. She was lying on her stomach, and it felt almost as though she were on top of someone else.

Click.

Her eyes flew open as that thought crossed her mind, and she tried to sit up, only to find that she was held in a tight embrace. She looked up to find, to her horror, that she had been using Miroku's chest as a pillow, and that he had his arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

…Her shoulders?

That was a first.

Click.

He was still asleep, and they were both sprawled lengthwise across the sofa, their legs intertwined in a somewhat embarrassing position. Even as she struggled to get free of his iron-like grip, she couldn't help but note how peaceful and boyishly cute he looked when he was asleep. Deceptively innocent, she decided.

She had to get away from him before anyone found them like this.

Click.

"Whazzat—" she muttered aloud, squirming around to find the source of that noise that had only now registered in her conscious mind. Her eyes widened in pure horror as she saw Kikyo—no, _Kagome_—standing behind the couch with a camera and an impish grin plastered on her face. Next to her stood Inuyasha, covering his mouth to help stifle his silent laughter.

Wait. …A _camera_?

Finding more strength within herself than she knew, she tore out of Miroku's embrace and lunged for the small silver object, only to have Kagome jump out of the way with a triumphant crow, holding it above her head. Still half-asleep, Sango slumped back onto the couch with a whimper and a glare.

The hand on her butt cleared any remaining fog from her mind.

"Pervert!" she screeched, snatching up a pillow and trying to smother the newly-awakened Miroku with it.

"Way to ruin a moment, Miroku," Kagome rebuked, inching toward the doorway.

Sango whirled on her with death in her eyes. "If you don't give me that camera this instant…" she snarled.

Kagome had already disappeared out the door, calling, "You forget I can outrun you," as she barreled away down the hallway.

"Kagome!" Sango yelled angrily as she took off after her.

The minute she was out of the room, Inuyasha snickered loudly, abandoning any attempts to contain his mirth.

"Umm," said Miroku, sitting up and regarding him curiously, "what did she mean by 'camera'?"

The question had a sobering effect on Inuyasha, though he couldn't quite erase the grin twitching at his mouth. "Kagome was taking pictures of you two cuddling on the couch," he explained, wondering if Miroku would try to kill him as Sango apparently had in mind for Kagome.

"Oh," was all that teen had to say. Then, "Do you think she could get me double prints?"

"Maybe. If Sango doesn't beat her to a pulp and smash the camera to tiny bits."

"I hope she can," Miroku mused, more to himself than anyone else. "I mean, I can now officially say that I've slept with Sango, but I'd kind of like some tangible proof…" He yelped when Inuyasha smacked the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"I told you last night not to do anything perverted to her," his friend retorted. "And going around telling people you slept with her definitely counts."

"Do you honestly expect me to keep this to myself?" the lecherous teen demanded.

"If you want to avoid Sango castrating you with a rusty spoon, I suggest you do just that," Inuyasha shot back.

Miroku winced, seeing the wisdom of his words. "Maybe you're right. But I'd still like a copy of those pictures."

"Like I said, I'm sure Kagome will oblige if she's ever able to actually develop them."

"You two seem awfully chummy all of the sudden. Care to explain where you disappeared to last night?"

Inuyasha smacked the back of his head again. "Get your mind out of the gutter. Why shouldn't she and I be on good terms? She's not Kikyo, you know."

"No, she's not. And I noticed you never answered my question."

"I fell asleep in the library," Inuyasha retorted, and it was true. He just happened to have left out his little detour between the TV room and the library. "You'd better get up and call Mushin, let him know where you are."

"He'll be too hung over to care," Miroku waved a hand carelessly. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Almost nine o'clock."

"Why would I be awake before nine on a Saturday? Come to think of it, why are _you_ awake before nine—aren't you a late weekend sleeper?"

"Keh. I can get up when I want." He wasn't about to divulge that he had awoken so early with the sole purpose of making sure Kagome hadn't snuck out on them after all. "Besides, the hired help has returned—you wouldn't have been able to sleep in much longer anyway."

"Ah, the inconveniences of the wealthy lifestyle," Miroku lamented in the voice of a martyr. He swung his legs around and stood up, stretching and yawning. "Where's the nearest phone? And do you think we'll be able to get any breakfast in this joint or not?"

………

Sango's frustrated screams could be heard throughout the house as the two boys trudged into the breakfast room in search of something to eat. Apparently Kagome had found a perfect hiding place, and the athletic teen was getting frustrated in her attempts to confiscate the missing and highly-incriminating camera film.

"She'll never find her," Kikyo commented dryly as she wandered in amid Sango's shouts of "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"Why do you say that?" Miroku inquired, his mouth full of buttery waffle and syrup. "Sango's pretty good at tracking people. Freakishly good, actually."

Kikyo eyed them both with faint distaste before flopping down in a chair across from them and pulling a clean plate from the stack. The cook had apparently decided to treat this morning's situation like a hotel a-la-cart, because the table was loaded with every breakfast food imaginable. "Kagome knows this house better than I do," she shrugged as she selected a blueberry muffin and reached for the butter.

"How could she?" Inuyasha asked with a frown. "You've lived here for years, and she's been here for what? Three weeks?"

"Two," she corrected. "But the first one she spent holed up here, not wanting to leave the house because she accidentally thr—never mind." She suddenly thought the better of bringing up the whole Koga-throwing incident, especially since they had been there anyway. "She was stuck in the house for five days straight, and apparently she gets a little squirrelly in close quarters."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "We know. We were in a jail cell with her. But what's that got to do with her knowing the house better than you?"

Kikyo had just taken a delicate bite of muffin and held up one finger as she chewed, signaling them to wait. "She found the house blueprints the second day," she explained after she had swallowed. "Next thing we know, she's riding the dumbwaiter, scaling down the laundry chute, and slithering through the air ducts. She knows every crawl space in the entire house, and what's more, she's limber enough to use them."

"Limber enough?" Miroku repeated with a confused frown.

"Uh-huh. You know—bendy. She's practically a contortionist."

"You don't say."

Inuyasha glanced over at his friend, only to find him staring into space, his mouth hanging open and drool pooling in one corner. He smacked the back of his head.

"What was that for?" Miroku demanded, coming back down to earth to rub the injured spot while glaring balefully at him.

"For the perverted thoughts you were thinking! I could practically see that scene from _Entrapment_ playing in your mind!"

Miroku's eyes glazed over again and a happy smile curled itself across his lips. "Ahh, Catherine Zeta-Jones," he murmured blissfully.

Kikyo rolled her eyes at both of them and fixed her attention on her half-eaten muffin.

"Kagome! You can't hide forever!" Sango's voice echoed through the house.

"That's what you think," Kikyo muttered under her breath.

The three breakfasters were taken somewhat by surprise when the cover of an air vent in the far corner of the room suddenly popped off and an extremely dusty Kagome came sliding out on her stomach.

"Hi guys!" she said brightly as she replaced the vent cover and stood up, brushing some of the dust bunnies off her clothes and out of her hair. She made it seem like a perfectly normal occurrence for someone to come crawling out of the refrigeration system.

"You weren't kidding," Miroku intoned in Kikyo's direction. She merely shrugged indifferently and reached for the orange juice.

"Wow, Cook went all out," Kagome said, eyeing the table with approval as she sat down next to her sister and across from the two boys. "Did he remember my hot chocolate? Ah! Here it is!" She snatched up a stainless-steel urn and a mug, pouring out the steaming liquid and breathing in its sweet smell with a sigh of contentment.

"You drink hot chocolate for breakfast?" Inuyasha asked uncertainly.

Kagome nodded and smiled. "Coffee's too bitter." She grabbed a plate and a croissant, slumping back into her chair with a cheerful smile on her lips.

"You're certainly in a good mood," Kikyo said dourly. "What's the occasion?"

Her sister tore off a small piece of croissant, rolling it between her fingers before chewing on it thoughtfully. "I don't know. It's kind of nice being called by my own name again, even if it is mingled with death threats." She giggled as another cry of frustration wrenched out of Sango's throat from afar. "Not that I didn't enjoy pretending to be you, Kikyo," she added. "It's just, it's been a really long time since people knew me as Kagome Higurashi, you know? Not since the divorce, actually. I can't help but feel a little giddy, like I'm myself again, like I haven't been in years."

Kikyo smiled back at her, and for once it was untouched by trouble or sadness.

Footsteps in the entryway signaled Sango's approach, and they all turned to watch the girl drag herself into the room, her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I can't find her anywhere," she muttered. "This house is too big." She halted, suddenly aware that four faces were peering back at her. Her gaze lingered between Kikyo and Kagome before rightly landing on the latter. "YOU!" she pounced, coming into contact with Kagome's now-empty chair.

Its former occupant had skirted out of the way and around the table, hovering behind Inuyasha and Miroku and still holding onto her half-eaten croissant.

"Where's that camera?" Sango demanded.

"It's safe and sound," Kagome retorted with a wry grin. "Now be nice, or I won't give you a copy of the pictures."

A low growl erupted out of Sango's throat, but surprisingly, she just flopped down in the newly-vacated chair and grabbed a plate from the stack.

"That's my seat," Kagome protested half-heartedly. Sango's resulting death glare caused her to add, "…but that's okay, I can just take this one over here."

"Kagome, my dear, beautiful friend, do you think you could get me a copy of those photos as well?" Miroku inquired as she took the empty seat next to him.

"Sure," she ruffled his hair, "if you do two things for me."

"And what would those be?"

"The first would be to promise you won't doctor them or use them for anything perverted."

A deep, tragic sigh escaped his lips, though he nodded his head in acquiescence. "And the second?"

"Kindly remove your hand from my thigh before I reduce it to a bloody stump," she said with frightening calm.

Miroku quickly retracted the offending appendage as Inuyasha whacked him from behind and Sango beaned him in the head with a muffin. "Geez, talk about overkill," he muttered.

"I'm not sure that's possible with you," commented Kikyo as she took a sip of her orange juice.

Miroku briefly took on an injured expression, but since no one seemed ready to offer him any pity, he shook it off again with a shrug. "Are the waffles gone?" he inquired, looking from the empty plate to the last waffle newly speared on Sango's fork. She grinned back at him wickedly before plopping it down in front of her and reaching for the butter.

"Sango, you don't really want that, do you?" Miroku coaxed. "I'm sure there's something else here you'd prefer… How about a muffin?"

As an answer, she picked up the waffle and firmly licked it lengthwise, marking it as her own.

"Are you trying to make me want it even more?" Miroku inquired with an injured pout, making Sango freeze in wide-eyed horror.

"Gross," Kagome said, swatting him on the arm.

Miroku turned a confused frown on her. "Why? It would be no less sanitary than kissing her sweet lips—" He broke off to the sound of Sango's theatrical gagging.

"Aw, just give him the waffle, Sango," Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "It's the closest he'll ever get to kissing you anyway. Let the man dream."

"No way. It's my waffle. I got it fair and square." As if to emphasize her point, she took a large bite out of one corner before returning it to her plate and smothering it in butter and syrup.

"Lucky waffle," Miroku muttered, reaching instead for a dish of scrambled eggs, all the while eyeing Sango's breakfast as though it were his mortal enemy.

"Poor Miroku," said Kagome to the last bite of her croissant. "Jealous of a breakfast food."

The teen in question shot her a rueful glare, then turned back just in time to see Sango cut off a square of dripping waffle and sensuously suck the extra syrup from it before popping it into her mouth. He sighed wistfully, then yelped as Kagome kicked him under the table.

"What was that for?" he demanded, rubbing his now bruised shin.

"For being such a colossal idiot," she retorted with a shake of her head, "though I suppose you would prefer pity rather than abuse."

Miroku's eyes sparkled with instantaneous joy. "You pity me? Truly?" Kagome suddenly found both her hands firmly caught in his own as he turned his full attention on her. "Kagome, dear, beautiful Kagome, would you do me the honor of bearing my child?"

"…Sure."

The entire room froze. Inuyasha's fist was mere inches from the back of Miroku's head, while Sango had been preparing to leap across the table and strangle him. Kikyo merely sat with her brows arched, her drink raised halfway to her lips. Everyone stared at Kagome in shock, disbelief, and horror, Miroku most of all.

"Y-you will?" he asked uncertainly, apparently never having received this response before.

"Sure, as long as you promise never to lay eyes on another woman so long as we both shall live," Kagome nodded solemnly, her face deadpan, her eyes boring into him, as though peering into his very soul.

Miroku suddenly found it hard to breathe with his gaze locked in hers, and before he knew it, his eyes had strayed over to the other side of the table, where sat Kikyo and Sango.

"Awww, so close," Kagome chided, snatching her hands out of his grasp and smacking him on the side of the head.

"You were toying with me!" cried Miroku accusingly.

"Of course I was," she responded with brutal heartlessness, turning back to the food on the table and trying to decide what else she wanted to eat. "I mean, I'm sorry, but I can't really see myself with a guy who thinks 'monogamy' is a type of wood."

"Monogamy _is_ a type of wood," he protested in confusion.

"That's mahogany, you dolt," Inuyasha growled, having recovered from his earlier stupor.

"Oh, yeah. So what's monogamy?"

"Figures," Sango muttered under her breath as she took another bite of waffle.

"Kagome," Kikyo spoke up quietly, watching as her sister peeled a banana. "What's the plan for today?"

"Hmm? I'm not really sure yet. I called Dad this morning and filled him in on some of the details, but all he said was that he might try to get an earlier flight tomorrow and for us not to get killed in the meantime."

"Helpful as always," Kikyo nodded sarcastically.

"That's all your father said?" Sango inquired with a frown. "My dad would be near frantic if even half of what's going on with you were happening to me."

"Speaking of which, Sango," Inuyasha piped up, "did you ever call him to let him know where you were?"

The girl in question suddenly paled and whirled to look at the clock on the wall. "Crud! He's gonna kill me!" she yelped, then dashed from the room, presumably to find a phone.

"Hah!" Miroku pounced, snagging the remains of her waffle from across the table.

"To answer your question earlier, Kikyo," Kagome said as though nothing unusual had happened to interrupt their conversation, "I was just going to hang around here this morning. I've got a friend flying in this afternoon, and I thought I'd go meet her at the airport."

"Who?" her twin inquired with suspicious eyes.

"You're not talking about that Kagura-person, are you?" Inuyasha demanded. Kagome's innocent expression answered his question for him. "I thought she was coming here to kill you, or something," he protested. "You can't go meet her at the airport!"

Kagome in turn shook her head, a knowing smile on her lips. "What better place to meet her? It's behind security, where I know she has no weapons on her and too many people are milling around for her to actually do anything to me. If you ask me, the airport's the perfect place to meet her. And it'll take her off guard, too, since she won't be expecting a welcoming committee."

"Do you even know what she looks like?" Kikyo asked.

"Sure. I've got a whole profile of her up on my laptop. Twenty-one years old, 5'5" with short, dark hair and – get this – red eyes, some sort of genetic anomaly in her family. She has a penchant for exotic weapons, traditional Japanese fans, and paragliding. And from what I remember, she seems like she would be the nicest of the family, or the least loyal, at any rate, so maybe I can reason with her."

"I'm going with you," her sister pronounced.

"No way," came the flat response. "I don't want her to know about you if she doesn't already. It'll only complicate things."

"Well, I'm not letting you go alone."

"I'll go," Inuyasha volunteered out of the blue. "And so will Miroku."

"I will?"

"Yes, you will," his friend confirmed with a threatening glare.

"That's really sweet of you guys," Kagome started uncertainly, "but I think I need to meet with her alone. Besides, you can only get past airport security these days if you have a boarding pass."

Inuyasha frowned. "So how're you getting past?"

She looked at him blankly. "I just told you. I'm buying a boarding pass."

"_What?_" Kikyo exploded.

"I didn't say I was going to use it," her twin returned defensively. "Other than to get past the security checkpoint, I mean."

"That's a total waste of money," said Miroku, at which both Kagome and Kikyo looked vacantly at him. "Okay, so you have plenty to spare," he muttered, polishing off the last piece of Sango's waffle.

"We're still going with you," Inuyasha stated staunchly, crossing his arms and silently daring her to counter him. "Even if we have to wait outside security, we're going with you."

"Going where?" Sango had reappeared in the doorway, and was now looking around at all of them curiously.

"To the airport," said Miroku brightly. "Want to come?"

She favored him with an odd look, then glanced down at her now-empty plate. Miroku tensed expectantly. "What happened to the rest of my waffle?" she demanded.

Everyone turned to look at Miroku, who was silently pointing toward Inuyasha, a covert expression on his face.

"Oy!" Inuyasha protested.

"What?" said Miroku, raising his brows in hopeless innocence.

His subsequent, pain-filled holler could be heard for miles.

………

"Eleven o'clock on a Saturday morning," Inuyasha intoned, tossing a small paperweight up and down from his supine position on the couch. "Normally I wouldn't even be getting out of bed until now."

"No one made you wake up this morning," Kagome retorted.

They were in the front drawing room, where she was busy fitting the windows with electronic sensors. It was the last of the wiring she had left on her security system, and she had determined to finish this morning, since she had time to waste.

"Did you even sleep last night?" Inuyasha demanded, sitting up and replacing the paperweight on its little end table. He looked up at her a little anxiously; the A-style ladder she was standing on didn't seem all that stable.

"Yep. Four hours—from three to seven, roughly. Where'd Miroku disappear to?" The lecher had been with them up until a few minutes ago.

"I imagine he's gone to offer his assistance to Sango—you know, help her scour the house for that camera of yours."

Kagome suppressed the urge to laugh, and failed miserably when a resounding slap echoed through the open doorway.

"Sounds like he's found her," she murmured. "Poor Sango."

"You're one to talk," Inuyasha snorted. "You were the one snapping pictures of her in a compromising position this morning, remember?"

"Aw, but they were so cute," she replied unrepentantly. "Even you would have to admit that. Besides, she'll thank me later. Sango really likes Miroku."

He shot a skeptical look at her back. "Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm not crazy. She does. And Miroku might actually have a chance with her if he could ever get over his perverted tendencies."

"You _are_ crazy."

Kagome rolled her eyes and turned to face him. "Did you see her expression this morning when I told him I'd bear his child? She went from wanting to kill him to wanting to kill _me_. It was priceless."

"Guess I missed that," Inuyasha muttered, slumping back against the couch and grabbing the paperweight again. To be honest, he had been too busy battling with his own jealousy and rage at that moment to notice how anyone else had reacted, not that he would admit it. "What made you agree, anyway?" he inquired with sullen disinterest.

"Because I knew he'd never be able to live up to my terms," Kagome shrugged, turning back to her work. "I was just pulling his leg, like he deserved." Another slap echoed through the house, and she sighed, shaking her head piteously.

"Are you sure that ladder's entirely stable?" Kikyo's voice said from the doorway. They both turned to see her standing there, a concerned frown on her face.

"I'm being careful," her twin replied in tortured tones. "Besides, if I fall, I'll just try to land on Inuyasha. He looks like he could use a couple of broken bones."

Kikyo merely quirked an eyebrow and looked between the both of them curiously.

"What's up?" her sister prompted.

"I was just coming to tell you I'd be upstairs if you needed me for anything. The police station called and we can go pick up the Geo anytime you're ready."

"Do I have to go?"

"No. Either one of us could get it, but I'm not taking a cab over to the impound lot."

"Think Dad would care if we drove the Miata?"

"Yes."

"Dang. So much for that idea."

"Anyway, come and get me when you're finished, and we'll go pick it up."

"Will do."

Kikyo disappeared again and Kagome returned to her work. Inuyasha continued to fiddle with the paperweight.

"One more to go," she announced as she descended from the ladder to move its frame over to the next window.

"Don't drag it like that," Inuyasha leapt to his feet to help her. "You've got to keep the feet on the same plane as the floor. If you drag it like that it'll just make it all wobbly."

"Look who knows so much about ladders," she retorted derisively, not bothering to change her dragging method. "Back off and let me do my work."

"Fine," he sneered, "but don't come crying to me when you fall off and break your leg."

She had straightened the legs as best she could and was in the process of climbing up the rungs, but stopped and threw him a wry grin. "What are you talking about? This thing's so stable I could dance a jig on it."

"I doubt you could dance a jig even if you were safe on the ground," he scoffed. "You probably don't even know what a jig is."

"That's hardly the point."

"Do you even have a point?"

She shot him a cold glare. "My point is that this ladder is perfectly safe."

"Which is why it creaks and shudders, even when no one's on it," came his sarcastic answer. "Wench."

"What did you call me?"

"I didn't call you anything, wench."

"Listen, you complete Neanderthal—" she whirled around to glare at him, letting go of the ladder to shake her fist, and inevitably losing her balance. She gasped sharply, flinging her arm back for a handhold that was already out of her reach, then fell forward toward the ground…

Inuyasha's reflexes were fast as always as he leapt forward to catch her. His feet weren't properly planted, though, resulting in them both crashing to the floor, Kagome on top of him with her face scrunched up as though expecting something extremely painful.

He grunted as she slowly opened her eyes again. "You were right," he smirked from beneath her, oddly satisfied at this sudden turn of events. "That ladder is perfectly safe—you're just really clumsy."

"Thanks for breaking my fall." She intentionally dug her knee into his gut as she rolled to one side, lying on the floor next to him.

"Ow-ow-ow!" he complained, his hands now clutching the injured area. "Watch what you're doing!"

Kagome laughed, staring up at the ceiling. "Why? You didn't need that kidney, did you?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to retort, but decided against it, averting his eyes to the ceiling as well. The doorbell rang.

Silence.

"Aren't you going to get that?"

"What do you think we employ servants for anyway?" she retorted, sitting up on one elbow and frowning over at him.

"I thought they were just here to make you feel more important," came his mocking answer as he mirrored her position.

Kagome smiled wryly, all the while noting in the back of her head how close they were and how her stomach had suddenly turned into a flurry of butterflies…

"Kikyo! _Dog-face_!"

She turned with a gasp to see none other than Koga standing in the doorway, perched on crutches and staring at the two of them with wide-eyes. "Koga!" Kagome said cheerfully, despite the surge of annoyance that had welled up inside of her. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?" Standing and brushing herself off, she ignored the low growl coming from Inuyasha's direction, instead approaching her sister's obviously upset boyfriend in the doorway as though nothing were out of the ordinary.

"What are you talking about?" Koga demanded, his gaze shifting from her to where Inuyasha still sat upon the floor. "They released me last night. I called you right after, remember? And what's _he_ doing here?"

Kagome looked back at Inuyasha with wide, innocent eyes and was about to spout off a random lie when—

"Koga!"

He visibly jumped, hearing Kikyo's voice from behind as she descended the stairs. With much confusion on his face, he turned to see his girlfriend approaching, then switched his gaze back to the one in front of him, looking all the while as though he was sure he was going insane.

"Oh!" Kikyo said, stopping short as she caught sight of Kagome behind him. "Oops."

Koga's wide-eyed gaze shifted between the two girls like a lost child trying to find his mommy. "K-Kikyo?"

Kagome helpfully pointed to her sister.

"W-what's going on?" he questioned uncertainly, his gaze at last resting on his real girlfriend.

"I'm so sorry, Koga," she said with a guilty expression. "This is my sister, my twin, Kagome."

He turned back to that person with a bewildered expression, but she merely smiled. "We've met," she told him in a reassuring voice. "Tuna-breath, remember?"

"That was you?"

She nodded apologetically. "Guilty as charged."

"But—"

"Come on," Kikyo coaxed, catching hold of his hand and motioning him farther into the house. "I'll tell you everything, I promise."

Kagome watched them leave with a feeling of great relief. The Koga Problem, which had weighed greatly on her mind, was now resolved. Turning back into the drawing room, she found Inuyasha frowning at her.

"What?"

"Tuna-breath?"

"Oh." She laughed and gave him a rather concise explanation of her first morning at school, conveniently leaving out the part of how it would have been her first kiss. He didn't need to know that, she decided.

"And that was the best lie you could come up with?" he inquired when she had finished.

"Hey," she swatted at him, "I was going off-the-cuff! It's not like I foresaw that situation coming up."

"You should have," he said callously. "I mean, you went to the trouble of pretending to be Kikyo—what did you think you were supposed to do with her boyfriend, play patty-cake?"

"Honestly," she muttered, once again climbing the ladder to finish her job.

"Be more careful this time," he shot up at her.

"Don't provoke me, or I'll throw something at you," she retorted.

"Ooh, I'm scared." All the same, he moved back toward the wall, further out of her lobbing range.

In the distance echoed Sango's cry of outrage and the lusty sound of her hand meeting Miroku's face.

………

"Miroku, I swear, if you touch me again, I will personally see to it that you are never able to father any children."

"How is it my fault that your body is so damn attractive?" he protested.

Sango clenched her teeth, fighting back the blush that rose to her cheeks. "Keep your hands to yourself, lecher," she admonished. "This isn't a petting zoo."

Miroku sighed as though being very put upon. "This is the thanks I get for trying to be helpful."

"Grabbing my ass every two seconds isn't helpful!" she flashed. "If you want to be helpful, go through that cabinet over there and see if you can find that stupid camera!" She gestured across the room to a tall armoire before returning to her detailed inspection of a brown leather sofa. They were in what must have been the game room, if the pool table at the center was anything to go by, and Sango was systematically tearing everything apart in her search for the incriminating camera.

Miroku sulked but obeyed her orders, crossing to the armoire in question and pulling open its doors. "Nothing in here but board games," he stated, glancing over the contents with disinterest. "Chess, checkers, Uncle Wiggly, Candyland…"

"Open the boxes and make sure she didn't hide it inside one of them," Sango commanded. She'd stripped all the cushions from the couch and had one arm buried in the crevice beneath, feeling for any foreign objects.

"There's too many here," he protested. "Kikyo's dad must own stock in Milton-Bradley or something. Besides, what are the odds that Kagome hid her camera in this room, of all places?"

She sighed, extracting her hand and brushing it off against her pant-leg. "It has to be somewhere," she stated logically. She replaced the cushions back on the couch, then crossed to where the other teen stood, extracting a random box from the cabinet while directing a warning glare to him.

"Touchy, touchy," he commented, pulling down another game.

"No, no-touchy," she corrected, seemingly intent upon her inspection. The first game she picked had never even been played, all of the pieces still sealed in their original packaging. With a frown, Sango replaced the lid, then drew forth a stack of boxes and plopped down on the ground. Miroku followed suit, sitting next to her.

"Hey, Sango," he asked out of the blue as they sifted through the games, "what's monogamy?"

The question took her by surprise, and a short, cynical laugh escaped her lips. "It's when a person has only one romantic partner, something you would know nothing about."

"How do you figure?" he asked, sounding slightly offended. "Maybe I just haven't found the right partner yet."

His words stung deeply. Sango focused her attention on the task at hand, trying to ignore the stabbing sensation in the vicinity of her chest. "Well, it's certainly not for lack of looking," she quipped dryly, sarcasm seeming like her only safe option at the moment.

"Or maybe I _have_ found the right partner, and she won't give me the time of day," he amended.

She hadn't expected that, her eyes jerking up from a perusal of the Trivial Pursuit box to meet his. A scowl marred her pretty face. "Which freshman are you pining over now?" she inquired, storing away her own feelings. This was the way it had always been with Miroku – her nursing a secret crush, and him obliviously chasing other girls. "Shima? Koharu? No, not Koharu – she worships the ground you walk on."

The young man clenched his jaw and shifted his gaze to the side. "No. This girl doesn't seem to know I exist," he said, annoyed, "not as a potential boyfriend, at least."

"Kagome?" she ventured suspiciously, remembering the unpleasant exchange at the breakfast table.

Miroku actually rolled his eyes. "_Not_ Kagome," he said, casting aside a box of Monopoly and snatching up Connect Four. "Look, just forget it. Forget I said anything at all."

"But you always tell me about your latest fling," Sango protested with something akin to bitterness, "like it's some demented ritual or something."

"Like I'm trying to make you jealous, maybe?" Miroku shot back, tearing the lid off the game to find the contents just as pristine as every other box he'd looked in thus far.

"Jealous?" Sango repeated, that single word startling her more than any turn in the conversation thus far. "Why—"

"This is pointless," he interrupted, flinging the box aside and clambering to his feet. "None of these have ever been played. They probably came free with the house. You're going to have to figure out somewhere else to look."

He turned away, but Sango scrambled after him. "Hey, wait a second!" she said, snatching at his wrist to stop him. "What is that supposed to mean? Why would you—"

Miroku whirled so sharply that she caught her breath, biting back the question she had started to ask. He looked furious, his eyes flashing with an intensity that made her want to retreat into a corner until he was gone, and Sango was by no means a cowardly person. "Forget it," he said, shaking his arm free of her grasp. "I'm an idiot, and you're oblivious as always."

Sango's eyes widened, and her heart felt like it was going to leap out of her ribcage. "Miroku," she started, but he turned away, intent upon egress. That, of course, only served to spike her anger. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" she cried, grabbing his arm and jerking him back around again to face her. "How does you feeling up every female you see equate to me being oblivious?"

"How many girls do you know of that I've 'felt up' every chance I could get for three years running?" he retorted. "Yeah, fine, I'm a pervert! I've groped a lot of girls! It's a hard habit to break. But you! You're like an addiction, with your long legs and perfect—"

"I'm not a piece of meat, you idiot!" Sango interrupted, cheeks flaming. "You've never seen me as anything more than a convenient ass to grab!"

His hands clamped onto her arms, his expression turning deadly as he held her in place, preventing her from any sort of retreat. "There is absolutely nothing convenient about grabbing your ass," he clarified stonily. "If I wanted convenience, I'd be dating Koharu or any other insipid little groupie who would let me touch her as much as I pleased. Instead, I risk a concussion every time I'm near you. Trust me, it's not out of convenience."

Her mouth opened and shut again without any sound but the clicking of her teeth. "You," she managed as his grip on her arms slackened. "You idiot!"

"We've established that already," Miroku snapped. He let go of her, but before he could back away, she clutched the front of his shirt, fisting the material in a strong hold.

"Haven't you ever heard of treating a woman with respect?" she demanded.

"Mushin's idea of treating a woman with respect is leaving her a note to find when she wakes up in the morning," he retorted. "I think I'm doing pretty well, all things considered."

"Idiot," she pronounced again, but before he could comment, she jerked him forward, sealing her lips to his in a hard, angry kiss. The action was brief but took him so by surprise that when she pulled back, he could only stare in a wide-eyed stupor. "I've thought for years that you would be the perfect guy if only you could learn to keep your hands to yourself," she admitted ruefully, a dark blush staining her cheeks.

A slow, disbelieving smile was spreading across Miroku's face. "Now where's the fun in that?" he asked before leaning forward to claim her mouth again.

………

"Finished!" Kagome announced, hopping from the second rung of the ladder to the floor.

"Took you long enough," muttered Inuyasha from his resumed position on the couch.

"It took me all of ten minutes," she shot back at him. "Besides, no one forced you to stick around while I was working." Of course, she was glad he had.

"Keh. What else was I supposed to do?"

"You could have gone off to find Miroku and Sango. Speaking of which, I haven't heard her shriek for a while now—much longer than normal. Do you think they're okay?"

"She probably knocked him unconscious and continued her search for your camera alone."

"She won't find it," Kagome pronounced, rolling up her small pack of equipment. "And even if she did, it wouldn't do her any good."

"Why not?"

"Because it's digital—I already transferred the images to my laptop."

"When did you do that?"

"When I was holed up in the air vent this morning. I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. And they're such cute pictures! I'll take them down to the film place later and get prints made."

"So Sango's just running around on a wild goose chase?"

"Basically."

"And you're just going to let her?"

Kagome shrugged. "It kept her busy, didn't it? We should probably go and relieve her of Miroku's presence, though."

They headed out, meeting none other than Koga and Kikyo at the base of the stairs, the former stubbornly laboring down the last couple steps on his crutches.

"Kagome, Ginta's on his way over to give Koga and me a ride to the impound lot," her sister said. "We'll get the Geo, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Great. Be careful," Kagome answered, noting the way Koga and Inuyasha were glaring at one another. "Have you seen Miroku and Sango anywhere?" she added as an afterthought.

"I think they were in the billiards room upstairs," Kikyo supplied as she opened the door. "See ya later!"

"Bye!"

"Billiards room?" Inuyasha inquired as they started back up the stairs. "What is this, the Clue mansion?"

"Yes, billiards," Kagome answered in an affected, snobby voice. "Only boors play pool. This way."

One of the double doors was wide open, but no noises issued from within.

"Doesn't sound like they're in there," Inuyasha commented as he approached. He stopped dead, staring ahead of him with wide eyes. "Or I could be wrong," he managed faintly.

Kagome came to stand right next to him, peering into the open doorway and nearly crowing with triumph at what she saw. She had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep from being heard.

In front of the pool table, apparently oblivious to everything around them, Miroku and Sango stood locked in an impossibly passionate embrace. Her arms were tight around his neck, her fingers tangled in his hair, and his were wrapped around her back, holding her securely against himself as they both played a very intense game of tonsil hockey.

Even as the two interlopers watched, one of Miroku's hands started slipping south of the border, only to be caught by Sango before it reached its destination. She replaced it firmly on her waist, breaking their kiss long enough to say breathlessly, "There are rules, Houshi. Live with them, or live without."

"I suppose I can live with that," he sighed, once more bringing his mouth to hers.

Kagome laid a hand on Inuyasha's arm and mutely motioned for him to back away from the room before their presence was detected. As they retreated down the hallway, she cast a sidelong glance in his direction, noting the unusually pensive expression on his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly when they had rounded a corner and were out of ear-shot—not that Miroku and Sango would have heard them anyway.

He stopped short and frowned at her. "Yeah, I guess," he said slowly. "I just had no idea—I mean, I knew Miroku flirted with her, but he flirts with every girl he sees. And I thought Sango couldn't stand him, not like that, anyway. I guess it's just a little weird to see your two best friends going at it like they're the last two people on earth and responsible for propagating the entire species."

"There was some graphic mental imagery," Kagome cringed. "I guess this is the part where I say 'I told you so,' isn't it?"

"I guess so," he agreed, still a little bewildered.

"Would it make you feel better if I didn't say it?"

Inuyasha shot her a small, wry smile. "I'm fine," he said in a low voice. "It's just something I'll have to get used to, those two as a couple."

"They're not necessarily a couple," she answered thoughtfully. "Maybe they're just make-out buddies."

"Okay, that's even worse. Sango's like my sister, and Miroku is…Miroku. If I found out his intentions weren't serious, I'd likely beat the shit out of him."

Kagome arched an eyebrow at him. "Sounds more like a father's reaction than a brother's, Inuyasha."

"Nah. Her father would beat the shit out of him, scrape him back together, then do it again. In fact," he added gleefully, "I'd kind of like to be there when he finds out, just to see the expression on his face."

"I take it he doesn't like Miroku?"

"He likes him fine as his daughter's friend. Can't say the same about him as his daughter's boyfriend."

"But maybe they're not…"

"Not going there, Kagome."

"Right. Sorry."

………

**A/N:** Thanks for reading, and double-thanks for reviewing! Next chapter – Kagura joins the fray! Yay!


	13. Complicating Matters

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**InuYasha**_

* * *

Chapter 13—Complicating Matters

* * *

"I still can't believe you have a twin," said Koga from the passenger seat of the Geo. Their conversation during the ride to the impound lot had not visited this subject, since Ginta was acting as chauffeur. Now that they were alone, however, it was the first thing he brought up.

"I should have told you sooner," Kikyo apologized, turning the ignition to start the car. As she maneuvered out of the impound lot, she continued, "Everything's just been a mess—Kagome didn't want people to know she was here at first, and then the whole thing with the stalker complicated things… You do know that she was the one who threw you over her shoulder at the mall, don't you?" she added, tentative.

Koga's brows shot up beneath his bangs. "That was her too?"

She nodded, swerving out into traffic. The sudden move had her boyfriend grabbing at the dashboard to catch himself.

"Whoa!" he cried. "What's the hurry?"

Kikyo was already zipping in and out of the lanes, driving like her usual maniac self. "Kagome's heading to the airport to meet someone this afternoon—I wanted to get back home to talk to her before she left." She didn't bother adding that, as Kagome was intent upon meeting up with a yakuza assassin, it might very well be the last time she saw her twin alive.

"If you had a cell phone, you could just call and talk to her anytime," he quipped.

Weaving the Geo in between two trucks, she spared him a dry glance. "We're still minors. Cell phones require a contract, which has to be signed by an adult."

"So ask your dad."

She scoffed at this. "Dad hates cell phones. He thinks they're a horrible sign of co-dependence, and that the world at large needs to hang up and tend to their business. He carries his out of protest and has it turned off half the time—he'd never sign a contract for us."

Her boyfriend grunted. "Well," he allowed, "that still doesn't mean you have to drive like a banshee—we need to get back in one piece, you know."

Kikyo turned an affectionate smile in his direction. "I've got it under control," she assured him with a wink.

………

"What's with those two?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Kikyo gestured toward the couch, where Sango sat batting away Miroku's attempts to grope her. "She seems to be lacking her usual violence this afternoon."

"Ah," said Kagome. "It seems they've decided to try dating, and Miroku is still learning that this does not entitle him to fondle her to his heart's content."

"I see," her twin mused, frowning thoughtfully. "Well, it's about time they finally admitted they have feelings for one another."

"You knew too?" Inuyasha exclaimed, coming up to the pair just in time to hear Kikyo's last statement.

"Please," she said, rolling her eyes. "Are you blind?"

"Apparently," he grumbled, turning to Kagome and pointedly ignoring the snicker she was trying to conceal. "The information line says your girl's flight is an hour away from landing," he told her. "If you're going to do this, we need to get going."

"'Kay," she nodded. "Just let me go grab my bag."

"Bag?" Kikyo echoed sharply.

"_Hand_bag," Kagome clarified. "Purse. Tote. Whatever." Having assuaged her twin, she trotted off to retrieve the item.

Inuyasha moved to follow, but he was waylaid when Kikyo's hand suddenly darted out and fisted tightly into his shirt. "If you don't bring her back," she growled in a low voice, dragging him close enough to hear her words, "I will personally oversee your descent into Hell."

He gulped and nodded, wide-eyed. "You heard the plan yourself," he managed to retort, not wanting to admit that the intensity of her stare scared the living crap out of him. "Everything should go smoothly—if it doesn't, I'll take full responsibility."

Kikyo released her hold, lightly shoving him away as she nodded. "I'm glad we understand each other," she remarked in a pleasant voice, her smile sending shivers down his spine.

"Keh," Inuyasha snorted, then shifted his attention to the two figures on the couch. "Hey, lovebirds! We're leaving!"

As the trio exited the room, Kikyo watched with worried eyes. She and Koga had arrived back in time for Kagome to explain what she planned on doing at the airport—it was simple enough, but so many things could go wrong. An anxious twist of her stomach caused her to call impulsively, "Hey, be careful!" Through the open door, Inuyasha waved one hand to indicate that he had heard her. She watched as Kagome joined the group, waving a cheerful goodbye her direction.

"They'll be fine," Koga assured her, placing a comforting arm around her shoulders as he came to stand next to her. "Your sister seemed pretty sure of herself."

A small smile crossed Kikyo's face. "She did, didn't she," she agreed. All those years at their mother's side had taught Kagome how to plan, and how to remain calm in carrying out those plans. Her twin couldn't help but reflect that she would have been a nervous wreck in her place. "I wish she would have let me come along," she murmured, feeling left out.

"Nah," said Koga, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Better to let minions like those three risk their lives. Meanwhile, we have the house to ourselves…"

"The servants are still here," she reminded him, trying not to laugh at the speculative gleam in his eyes. "And your doctor told you to take it easy for the next week."

A wolfish grin lit up his face. "Where's your mind?" he asked. "I was just going to suggest a game of Monopoly. Unless you have something better to suggest…"

She snorted delicately, orienting herself toward the stairs. "Monopoly it is," she said, and her boyfriend congratulated himself on successfully distracting her from her fears.

………

"_Ladies and gentlemen, we have started our final descent. We would ask that you please put away your tray tables and return your seats to their upright position."_

Kagura sighed and continued staring out the window at the blanket of clouds they were about to sink through. What she would have given to be out there, free, riding on the wind instead of stuck here in the middle of the coach class, next to a lush and a woman with a screaming baby.

Naraku, that bastard. The least he could have done when tossing her on an international flight with less than an hour's notice was buy her a first-class ticket.

As it was, she had to settle for a window seat in the economy section, where she could only stare out into the afternoon sky and feel her own entrapment that much more acutely. At times like these, when she had nothing to do but wallow in self-reflection, she realized just how much she hated her life.

She was twenty-one, she thought ruefully. She should have been going to university and flirting with cute boys, not flying halfway around the world to put an end to a vendetta she cared nothing about. Her life should have been simple, like any other young twenty-something's was. Life was anything but for a girl born to one of the most ruthless yakuza leaders in all of Japan, though.

Kanna didn't seem to mind, of course.

Kagura's mind briefly flitted to her elder half-sister, the colorless, childlike creature who worshipped their father and did his bidding without question. The two of them had absolutely nothing in common. Where Kanna bent to Naraku's every whim, Kagura yearned to rebel. One did not rebel against the Onigumo, though. Her cousin Musou had tried a couple of years ago, and Naraku had killed him without so much as a second thought or twinge of regret. She would share that fate if she stepped out of line, be she his daughter or not.

The baby wailed louder, its mother apparently having abandoned any attempts at comforting it, and the lush was drunkenly trying to count the number of empty mini liquor bottles he had stowed in the magazine pocket in front of him. Pity Naraku didn't have a contract out on _his_ life, because she would have more than gladly obliged, especially after he spent the first three hours of this interminably long plane ride hitting on her and trying to get her drunk.

No Mile-High Club for him this trip.

The flight to San Francisco had been long but uneventful; customs had been busy, of course (here on business, no foreign produce in her bags, thank you very much), and she had had to run from the international terminal to catch the second leg of her trip. She had expected to sleep a bit once she got settled in, but thanks to the screaming infant and the chatty lush, those plans had gone out the window. All she wanted right now was to get off this plane, away from these people, and into a small hotel room where she could take a nice, hot bath and forget that she had been sent to do Daddy's dirty work yet again.

She almost broke out into the Hallalujah Chorus when the wheels hit the runway.

Another excruciating twenty minutes passed before she could deplane. She didn't even bother standing up from her seat, since she didn't see any point in cramping her head against the ceiling while she waited for everyone else to clear out of the walkway.

"Find your happy place, Kagura," she muttered under her breath, forcibly willing herself not to strangle the lush, who was currently having trouble pulling his bag from the overhead compartment. He wrested it free, but rather than shouldering it and herding off the plane, he set it down in the aisle seat, unzipped one pocket, and solemnly began to pack away his empty bottles. He looked up to see Kagura's vitriolic gaze directed at him.

"Souvenirs," he mumbled with a drunken smile. "You know, for the kids."

She had to stop herself from laughing. What kind of a father brought home empty liquor bottles for his children?

That of course made her reflect on her own father. Come to think of it, she would have preferred a tiny booze bottle to some of the souvenirs he had given her. Her mind flitted to the small tattoo on her shoulder, the little red spider that was the mark of the Onigumo yakuza, that he had forced her to get when she was only fourteen. Figures that red ink tattoos couldn't be removed except by actually cutting out the flesh, she reflected bitterly. And if she resorted to that, she would still be marked, just with a horrible scar rather than her family's brand. She could never get away.

The aisle finally cleared and she stood up, shouldering her carry-on backpack and holding tightly to the small airline welcome envelope that had previously held her boarding pass, but now only contained her baggage-claim ticket.

All she had to do was get off the plane, get her bags, get to her hotel, take a nice, hot shower, track down this girl for her father, kill her, then get back on a plane and go home, where she would probably just be sent out again. She sighed as she entered the terminal gate. When had her life become so mundane?

"Kagura! Kagura, over here!"

She stopped dead in her tracks, looking around quickly for the voice that called her name, suddenly apprehensive. No one had said anything about someone meeting her.

"Over here!"

She turned to the side and felt her jaw go slack as she observed her, that girl she had been sent to kill, standing by a group of tourists and waving one arm frantically to get her attention.

Was she on some prank TV show or something?

Glancing around herself suspiciously, she warily approached her mark, trying to decide whether this was some sort of a trap or not.

"Hey, you finally got here," Kagome said with a smile. "Your plane ended up being almost an hour late. I thought you'd never arrive."

"You know who I am?" she asked uncertainly, fully expecting a mob of people to jump out of nowhere and scream, "Gotcha!"

"Sure. I just came to talk things over on neutral turf. Come on, there's a little café halfway down the terminal."

She found herself being dragged toward the small restaurant, past the little duty-free tourist shops that sold every kitchy souvenir known to mankind, past the restrooms that she probably should visit some time soon, past the bay of pay phones, to…

Cup'a Joe.

That was the oh-so-intelligent name of this particular establishment. Kagome pulled her in to the fish tank-like restaurant, and sat her down at a little table for two. "What'll you have to drink?" she asked pleasantly, taking the seat across from her.

"Cappuccino, extra froth," Kagura promptly said. Who was she to turn down a free beverage, especially considering her immediate American funds were somewhat limited: she had enough for a cab, and that was about it, and right now she could use the pick-me-up.

"Coming right up."

Kagome started to stand, but Kagura quickly grabbed her wrist. "No, you don't," she shook her head wisely. "I know better than to let an enemy give me something to drink."

"Don't worry," Kagome answered with a laugh and an innocent wave. "I just place the order, and someone else brings it to our table."

"Oh." Well she certainly felt a little stupid right now. She watched as her mark bounced away to the counter and rattled off her order, wondering what could possibly be on that girl's mind, if she even had one. She half-wondered whether they'd sent her after the wrong person entirely.

"It'll be here in a minute," Kagome announced as she took her seat once more. "You can relax," she added, noting that Kagura hadn't set down her carry-on and still clutched her baggage-claim ticket. "My intentions aren't sinister, I assure you."

"I'm still not sure you know who I am," Kagura stated uncertainly.

The girl across from her quirked an eyebrow. "Sure I do. You're traveling under the name Sugisaki, but you're actually Kagura Onigumo of the Onigumo yaku—" The rest of her words were lost as Kagura quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Are you crazy?" she hissed, to which Kagome solemnly shook her head.

The two of them stared at one another for a long moment, each trying to discern the other's thoughts. In fact, they sat frozen in the same position until Kagura realized that people were beginning to stare.

"Just—don't say that name," she whispered conspiratorially, withdrawing her hand and looking around to see if anyone suspicious was watching them.

"You mean the 'O' word?" Kagome inquired with wide eyes. At Kagura's curt nod, she said, "Okay, I won't say it. But at least you know I know who you are."

"And now I'm just left to wonder why on earth you're sitting across from me at an airport café," Kagura drawled.

The teen opened her mouth to respond, but shut it again as the server appeared with their drinks. Kagura at last dropped her backpack to the floor next to her chair and set down her baggage-claim ticket, turning her full attention on the whipped-creamed-and-chocolate-sprinkled foamy nectar-of-the-gods in front of her. Kagome had ordered a hot chocolate that was served with the same garnishes.

Both girls breathed in the aroma of their beverage and sighed blissfully.

"I thought we could both lay all our cards on the table," Kagome stated as she stirred the cream into her hot chocolate. "Public place, state-your-intentions-before-the-games-begin sort of thing."

"I'm here to kill you," Kagura said bluntly, then took a sip of her cappuccino. "Not that I really want to," she added to soften the blow.

"Well that's good, because I don't really want you to either," Kagome replied, apparently unfazed by the news she had just been given. "Perhaps we can come to some arrangement?"

"Naraku doesn't believe in coming to arrangements after he's marked someone," came the dark response. "I'm really sorry, because you seem like a nice person, but I don't have a choice in the matter. I guess you should have chosen your partner-in-crime more carefully."

"Akemi chose me," Kagome shrugged dully. "If I had my choice, I would never have gotten into crime."

"You and me both."

"So Naraku wants me dead, huh," Kagome observed aloud, her voice still level. "Apparently I'm no use to him alive?"

Kagura shook her head sadly. "My sister Kanna's already busy tracking down the Shikon's buyer—it's only a matter of time before it's recovered, so Naraku wants you dispatched with and out of the way as soon as possible. It hurt his pride to be burglarized, you know."

"I can imagine. But what makes you think Akemi sold the Shikon no Tama?"

This question took her by surprise. "What else would she do with it?"

"She was obsessed with it," Kagome shrugged. "She even discussed having it implanted in her. You know, the perfect hiding place, right between the kidneys and the small intestines? Trouble was finding a doctor whacked enough to oblige…"

Kagura was busy coughing, having started to drink at exactly the wrong moment during that previous speech. Kagome stood quickly, sidling over to pat her on the back and help her clear her lungs.

"She had it implanted in her?" the assassin gasped as soon as she was able. "Naraku's going to have a fit!"

"I didn't say that," came the knowing response. "I said she _talked_ about having it implanted. Whether she actually did or not, well, I'm not about to tell you that. It may be my only bargaining chip."

She narrowed her red eyes, observing the seemingly air-headed teen in front of her and reassessing her initial evaluation. "You could be bluffing," she ventured.

"I could be. But if the Shikon Jewel really was sold, why haven't you found it yet? I mean, Akemi got her hands on it almost two years ago. Surely you haven't been sitting on your laurels before now."

Kagura was about to say something, but she was interrupted by an annoying chirping sound. Kagome blushed and produced a ringing cell phone, glancing down at its illuminated screen with an apology.

"Sorry about this," she said as she began to punch numbers on the keypad. "I got a ride here with a friend of mine, and he's certain you're going to snap my neck or something."

"The thought had crossed my mind," Kagura said mildly, stirring her drink.

"Well, I'm just going to text him and assure him I'm still alive, if you don't mind," she smiled back. Did nothing faze this girl?

She waited patiently for her to finish sending her message before saying, "So how were you expecting to get away from here alive, anyway? You may have just made my job a whole lot easier by meeting me, you know."

"I just figured you'd be too tired after your flight to go to the trouble of killing me in public," Kagome shrugged, replacing the phone in her pocket. "Besides, I can always hop on a plane out of here. I had to buy a boarding pass to get back to your gate anyway."

"We'll just track you down again."

"Like you did from Rome?"

Kagura smirked, remembering Naraku's wrath when a couple of his men had missed the girl by mere hours back in Italy. "We only traced you as far as Toronto," she conceded. "You're excellent at running, I'll give you that. Unfortunately you're leaving family behind if you bolt this time. I don't recommend it," she added, solemnly shaking her head. "He'll order to have them both killed, Kagome."

"Why hasn't he yet?"

"It seems he owns some stock in your father's company. Sudden death of a CEO is bad for business, you know? Naraku's nothing if not a greedy bastard."

"You don't sound overly fond of him."

"I loathe him," Kagura growled. "But I don't have any choice in my occupation."

"You always have a choice," Kagome retorted softly. "I learned that too late. Just do me a favor and tell him the Shikon no Tama was never sold. Maybe he'll reconsider the value of my life."

She stood to leave.

"You're awfully trusting of me," Kagura observed.

The teen cavalierly tossed a few dollars on the table to take care of the tip. "Professional's Code of Honor?" she ventured with a wistful smile. "Can I at least have a five minute head-start?"

The assassin smiled and nodded. "I'll give you that much just for the cappuccino." She sat back in her chair and raised the oversized mug to her lips, watching her prey retreat with amusement and sorrow mingled in her expression. That girl was younger than she was, dragged into a life of crime against her will, just like her. She didn't like killing innocents.

Life just wasn't fair.

She let the five minutes elapse, sipping her drink with ease down to its last dregs, then stood and gathered up her backpack and the airline envelope that held her baggage-claim ticket. Out of compulsion, she opened the latter—and froze.

There was a boarding pass for a flight to New York and a small note tucked into the flap.

_Sorry about your bags._

Her day couldn't possibly get any worse.

………

"Did you get them?"

"Yes, hurry up! What took you so long?"

"We were talking."

Kagome handed the baggage-claim ticket to the inspector, who looked over the tags on the suitcases Miroku and Inuyasha each carried, checking to make sure the numbers matched before letting them pass out of the carousel area.

"She said she'd give me a five minute head-start, but who knows how long it will take her to find out I made the switch," Kagome said, ushering them toward the parking garage. "I'm just glad you already found her suitcases, otherwise we'd be in a little trouble."

"We're in plenty enough as it is," Inuyasha retorted. "It took you long enough to text that claim number to us!"

"Quit complaining. Everything worked out in the end."

"So she's not here to kill you?"

"Okay, so maybe not everything."

"I don't believe this!" Inuyasha cried, shifting the suitcase from one hand to the other. "A yakuza assassin is here to kill you, and you won't even consider going to the authorities!"

"What could they do?"

"They could arrest her, for one thing!"

Kagome shook her head. "I wouldn't want that. Kagura's really nice, aside from the whole heartless assassin thing. Besides, from what she said, she doesn't exactly enjoy her work, and she despises Naraku."

"That's the yakuza leader?"

"Yeah."

Sango was waiting for them in the same SUV Kikyo had driven the night before, and she flipped on the engine while the boys threw the bags in the back. Kagome hopped into the back seat, leaving the front passenger's seat open for Miroku. She slid the cell phone out of her pocket, handing it to the girl in the driver's seat.

"Thanks, Sango," she said. "It worked like a charm."

"Tell me again—why exactly did you steal her luggage?" Sango inquired with a frown.

Inuyasha and Miroku slid into their respective seats and pulled on their safety belts as the vehicle backed out of its space.

"Because anything lethal she brought with her will be in there," Kagome replied. "But also just to tick her off. I mean, she's here to kill me, after all. I may as well make her life as hard as possible. So who wants to volunteer to keep her luggage?"

"Why aren't you keeping it?" Inuyasha demanded.

Kagome frowned at him. "She knows where I live. I mean, I plan to give it back, minus the weapons if she has any, but I need time to go through it, check the lining and all that."

"I could keep it at my place," Miroku offered.

Sango shot him a sideways glare as she drove. "Why? So you can see what type of underwear she packed?"

"My dear Sango," he retorted prosaically, "I don't even know what this woman looks like. Why on earth should I care about her undergarments? Especially when I'm far more concerned with a certain someone else's underwear at the present," he added with a smirk.

Kagome whacked the back of his head. "Eyes on the road, Sango," she commanded.

"Thanks," the athletic teen replied. "But could you hit him again just for good measure?"

"_Sango_," Miroku whined as Kagome gladly complied.

"I told you there were rules, Houshi," she answered heartlessly. "You need to be respectful. I wouldn't go around in public talking about your underwear, or grabbing your butt, for that matter."

"I wish you would," he muttered, slumping down into his seat so that the headrest shielded him from any more of Kagome's swats.

"Ah, young love," Inuyasha sighed, feigning a dreamy expression. This earned him irate glares from both teens in the front seats.

"So is Miroku taking the luggage or not?" Kagome asked, getting back to the point.

Sango frowned. "We can take it to my house," she said firmly. "It'll be safer there."

"I can't believe you think I would do something unsavory with it," Miroku protested, genuinely hurt.

"Houshi, even if you didn't, Mushin would."

He couldn't argue with that. "Right. Sango's house it is."

………

"Dad?" Sango cautiously called as she opened the door. "Dad, are you here?"

A bearded man in his early forties came wandering out of his office, a small room just off the house's entryway. His hand held a steaming cup of coffee and his face held an expression of confusion. "Sango?" he questioned, glancing from his daughter to the three people stumbling in behind her. "Whose car is that out front, and whose luggage is this?"

"Ah, um, that's my friend Kagome's car," she motioned to the girl at the back of the group, and began introductions. "Dad, this is Kagome. Kagome, this is my dad."

He reached forward to shake the girl's hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, an odd look flashing through his eyes before he turned his attention to the two boys. "Inuyasha, Miroku. Good to see you both again. Are you keeping out of trouble?"

"Yup," they both chirped, exchanging a nervous glance. If Sango's father found this at all suspicious, he did not indicate it.

"And the luggage?" he prompted instead, eyes traveling down to scrutinize the two medium-sized suitcases that Inuyasha and Miroku were carting inside.

"They're Kagome's," said Sango quickly. "She just drove in from out of town."

"And that would be why there are airline tags around the handles?" He pointed to the telling white labels, one eyebrow raised in a challenge to his daughter's story.

"Those are from my trip to Japan last year," Kagome spoke up with an innocent smile. "I haven't been able to bring myself to remove them yet—it's like a souvenir, you know? And once I take them off, I won't have those reminders anymore."

"Ah." The man paused to take a sip of his coffee, eyes trained on this new girl's face. "Are you staying with us, then? Sango hadn't said anything about visitors."

"No, no," said Kagome, flashing a disarming smile and raising her hands defensively. "I'm staying with another friend, but she's working right now—the rest of us were going to, um, hang out here until her shift ends, and I just didn't feel comfortable leaving my bags in the car while we were inside."

He nodded. "I see. Well, have fun, then. Sango, be sure to let me know if you leave again," he added, wandering back through the open door into his office.

The four exchanged glances before hurrying through the entryway and up the stairs to Sango's room. "He suspects something," she whispered as soon as they were out of earshot.

"What makes you say that?" asked Miroku. "He seemed normal to me."

"That's how I know," Sango said, shooting him a dark glance. "He was _too_ normal—he didn't ask Kagome where she had driven in from, how long she was staying, how she knew me, anything. He just accepted everything we told him and walked away. He suspects something."

They piled into Sango's bedroom, dumping the luggage unceremoniously upon the floor. "If he had a file on Kagome's mom," Inuyasha said as he shut the door tight behind him, "maybe he has one on Kagome as well."

Three pairs of eyes turned in the direction of the former criminal-accomplice, who lifted her hands defensively. "I don't know anything about that," she said, wide-eyed and innocent.

An odd silence followed, in which they watched her as though expecting her to break down and confess everything. Finally, Inuyasha snorted, turning his attention back to the suitcases. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "Let's crack these things open already."

Kagome automatically flipped the first to lie flat, zipping it open in a quick movement and throwing back the flap as the other three teens gathered around her.

"Hello, hello," Miroku murmured, reaching one hand toward a bundle of black silk and lace that was unmistakably lingerie. Sango immediately slapped his hand, throwing a glare his direction. "Ow! Sango!" he complained, holding his injured appendage and looking at her with wounded eyes. "It's not what you think!"

"You might want to cut him some slack on that one," Kagome agreed, reaching for the same spot. From beneath the silky bundle she extracted a small, hard black case. "Looks like she at least follows airline regulations when transporting her firearms—it's locked."

"Is that…?" Inuyasha started, licking his lips nervously.

"Oh, definitely a handgun," she nodded. Setting the box to one side, she rifled about between clothes and produced a second box, this one wooden with a tight-fitting lid. "And here we have the ammunition," she announced, prying the top off to display the neatly stacked rows of bullets, standing on end like a small army of metal soldiers. "Nice—looks like 9mm hollow-point."

Inuyasha snatched the lid from her and forced it back on the box. "Are you crazy?" he hissed. "Some yakuza assassin has come to blow your brains out, and you're admiring the _bullets_ she plans on using?" Stashing the ammunition box next to the locked gun case, he leveled an impatient glare and prompted, "Just get on with it! In case you haven't forgotten, we are up to our necks in all kinds of illegal shit right now."

"You know," Kagome drawled, returning her attention back to the contents of the suitcase, "with how worked up you're getting over all of this, I'd almost think you care. Ooh!" Her startled exclamation cut off whatever retort he was about to give.

"What is it?" he demanded instead, leaning forward with anxiety.

"These jeans are super cute!" she crowed, holding up a pair of the denim pants for all to admire.

"Those _are_ cute!" Sango agreed, fingering the pattern stitched on the pockets.

Inuyasha looked about ready to burst a vein, and Miroku stared with slack-jawed disbelief. "Could we _please_ get on with this?" the former growled, stealing the super-cute jeans away and flinging them off to the side.

"Dibs on those if we don't give the luggage back," Sango whispered in Kagome's ear.

All in all, the search did not take long. The first bag produced only the handgun and ammunition. Within the second lay a set of knives and a rather elegant katana. Preliminary inspection of the linings produced nothing—it seemed that Kagura didn't bother trying to hide her weapons. She probably claimed them up front when she checked her bags, just as the airlines would have desired.

"So," Kagome pronounced as she piled articles of clothing and various toiletries back into place in their respective suitcases, "looks like I get a choice between a bullet and a blade."

"How can you sound so cheerful about all of this?" Inuyasha questioned, incredulous.

"I was worried about finding a high-powered rifle," she shrugged. "Looks like Kagura prefers to do her job with a personal touch, though."

"That doesn't answer my question!" he protested.

Her brows furrowed together in annoyance. "What am I supposed to do, cringe in fear and start blubbering? I hardly see how that would help matters. Besides, I gave her a message to pass on to her boss, and that should buy me some time, if not my life." She stood and brushed off her hands.

"What sort of message?"

"Just that killing me won't get him back what he wants. Sango, can I get a drink or something? I feel like I'm dying of thirst."

"Sure—I could use something myself." The other girl was on her feet in an instant, leading them downstairs to the kitchen. "How much time do you think you've bought?" she inquired.

Kagome shrugged. "I'd give the Onigumo three days," she said as they passed through the door.

A heavy smash brought all four teens to a dead halt. Within the kitchen stood Sango's father, coffee pot in one hand, with the mug he had been holding in the other only seconds earlier lying shattered across the tile floor. He stared at Kagome with eyes the size of saucers.

"Onigumo?" he repeated. "Did you just say 'Onigumo'?"

Kagome stared back at him for a heartbeat before immediately replying, "Huh? Onigumo? No, no, I said '_only good for_ three days'—we were talking about the sight-seeing pass I bought to use while I'm here. What's 'Onigumo'?" The innocent expression on her face could have fooled the devil himself into thinking she had never stepped a toe out of line.

"It's n-nothing," Sango's father replied, casting a wary glance her direction as he set down the coffee pot and went to find cleaning supplies. "Sorry. No, no, Sango, I've got it," he said, waving aside his daughter's attempt to help him. "You just go play with your friends."

At that invitation, the four beat a hasty retreat back upstairs. "Your father knows about the Onigumo?" Kagome hissed once the door was shut tightly.

"I told you he's CIA—I don't know anything about his cases, aside from the occasional tidbits I find when I'm cleaning his office, and I'm not supposed to know about those! He had suspicions about you before," she added with an anxious glance. "Now they've probably skyrocketed. We shouldn't hang around here."

No one saw any reason to disagree. They stashed Kagura's weapons and luggage under Sango's bed and then tiptoed downstairs, listening for sounds of the girl's parent. Sango eased the door open to let the other three slip outside. Once they were in the clear, she called, "Hey, Dad! We're heading over to Inuyasha's place for a bit!"

He came rushing from the direction of the kitchen. "Sango, I don't think you should…"

"Don't worry, Mr. T!" Miroku interrupted, appearing at her side and putting his arm around the girl's shoulder in a protective gesture. "I'll take good care of your daughter! What kind of a boyfriend would I be otherwise?"

"_Boyfriend?_" her father gasped, face turning pale as he stopped short to stare at the couple in complete horror.

"Since this morning," Miroku announced with a bright smile. "Aren't I the lucky man? I promise I'll have her back safe and sound before curfew, Dad!" With that, he whisked Sango out the front door, shutting it tight and clasping her hand in his as they ran to the waiting vehicle.

"I thought we agreed to break that news to him _gently_, Miroku," she snarled as they tumbled into the back seat.

"But it made such a perfect distraction," he replied, slamming the car door and grabbing for his seatbelt as Kagome pulled out into the street. "Besides, now he has time to mull over the idea on his own for a bit."

"That's true," said Sango.

"I'm not sure how I feel about his reaction, though," Miroku frowned to himself. "He seemed to find your dating me a bigger concern than the possibility that you could be running around with someone connected to the yakuza."

Inuyasha snorted in the front passenger seat. "Sango's old man has good sense. He'd probably take the yakuza over you dating his daughter any day of the week."

………

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone for reading, and cookies to all who review! (Your kind words really do motivate me, even if it doesn't seem that way.)

Next chapter—Kagura passes the message to Naraku, Kagome's dad brings home a surprise, and Kikyo returns to school!

Also, in the name of shameless self-promotion, if anyone likes weird, culture-clashing AUs with OOC alt-pairings (I'm really selling this, aren't I?), I posted a five-chapter fic back in March, called _Tribute_. I don't really know what else to say about it, so that's all.


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